Archive for February 5, 2025

Wednesday, February 5, 2025

Tapestry 1.0

The Iconfactory (Mastodon):

Tapestry combines posts from your favorite social media services like Bluesky, Mastodon, Tumblr and others with RSS feeds, podcasts, YouTube channels and more. All of your content presented in chronological order, with no algorithm deciding what you should or shouldn't see.

[…]

Third-party connectors can be added to Tapestry to allow it to work with even more sources. If it has a publicly-accessible feed on the internet, a connector can be built for it.

Ryan Christoffel:

Tapestry is a free download on the App Store, with subscription options available to remove ads, unlock custom timelines, content muting, and theme customization. Subscriptions run $1.99/month, $19.99/year, or you can make a one-time purchase of $79.99.

The Iconfactory:

Connectors are created with standard web technologies: JavaScript and JSON. All of Tapestry’s connectors are open source and easy to adapt for your needs.

You’ll use Tapestry Loom on a Mac to test and debug your connector[…]

Craig Hockenberry:

Centralized systems have shown their weakness and siloed content has as much a chance of surviving as “You’ve got mail!”.

Tapestry was built with this change in mind. Your content comes from a lot of different places, and how that data is retrieved from a feed is entirely customizable. Our goal was to put RSS, social media, podcasts, and more into a flexible and easy-to-read timeline. Tapestry syncs this variety of feeds across devices in a way that is seamless, secure, and easy to understand.

Nick Heer:

I am not sure I want all of these things inside a single app’s timeline. I typically want to treat reading web feeds as a discrete task, for example, and I would use a dedicated podcast client instead. But I like the idea of a merged social media feed. Some people have accounts on Bluesky, Mastodon, and Micro.blog, while others are on only one of those services. I would often like to see all of them at the same time.

[…]

What I would really like — and I do not mean to sound ungrateful or demanding — is a MacOS client.

Previously:

Reeder Rebuilt

Silvio Rizzi (September 2024):

The new Reeder is out!

A note to Reeder Classic users: For this release, I’ve tried to cover any questions you might have about the new Reeder and Reeder Classic in the FAQ.

There’s no pressure to upgrade. As mentioned before, both apps will coexist.

Devon Dundee:

The best word to describe the new Reeder is “ambitious.” Its purpose is not just to be your RSS reader, but your inbox for keeping up with feeds of many different kinds from various sources across the Internet – text from websites, sure, but also videos on YouTube, audio from podcasts, posts on social media, and more. It’s a one-stop shop for the feeds you follow online, collecting them together into a single timeline that you can seamlessly browse across all of your devices.

This concept—like Tapestry—doesn’t really appeal to me. But I’m probably not a typical user. I like that they’re experimenting in this space and that Reeder Classic is sticking around.

Matt Birchler:

What concerned me is that a new app that didn’t click for me had taken over the name of the app I loved. It felt like the app I loved was being put into a legacy status with the “classic” moniker. “Reeder Classic remains a product in our lineup,” if you will. Like I said, there aren’t a bunch of features I hope are added to Reeder Classic, so I’m fine if it goes on the back-burner, I just hope it continues to get support for the latest operating systems so I can keep using it how I do now for many years to come.

Dave Rahardja:

Maybe I’m not getting it, but it no longer has the concept of read/unread blog posts; everything just…hangs out there forever. It also makes it very difficult to read the content in a web browser; you used to be able to press B to open an article in Safari, but now it’s a click on the share arrow, then Open, with no keyboard shortcuts.

Rui Carmo:

And the new Reeder just doesn’t do what I need it to. In fact, it doesn’t even do what it tries to do in a way that I find useful:

  • Polling 200+ feeds? Local polling and iCloud syncing won’t cut it, and the lack of support for feed aggregators tells me this isn’t an app to keep track of a lot of diverse interests.
  • Catching up on Mastodon? I have custom RSS feeds that track lists from a server, since having my home timeline or tags is just useless and too much noise in my experience.
  • Reddit? Erm. Why? I do visit, but (guess what) I already have summary feeds from the couple of subreddits I care about.
  • Videos and podcasts? I can get a much better experience in specialized apps like Yattee and Overcast, and I never consume that kind of content together with the rest–the contexts and use cases just don’t overlap for me.

See also: Mac Power Users and Reddit.

Previously:

Apple “Approved” Hot Tub Porn App

Jess Weatherbed (MacRumors, 9to5Mac):

The first “Apple approved” porn app for iPhone is rolling out in Europe, via AltStore PAL’s alternative iOS app marketplace. AltStore PAL developer Riley Testut says that Hot Tub, which describes itself as an ad-free “adult content browser,” has made it through Apple’s notarization review for fraud, security threats, and functionality, and will be available for AltStore PAL users in the EU to download starting today.

Apple bans “overtly sexual or pornographic material” on its own iOS store. Steve Jobs once replied to a customer email questioning App Store policing, saying that Apple has “a moral responsibility to keep porn off the iPhone,” and said that people looking for such apps should “buy an Android phone.” Thanks to the EU’s Digital Markets Act, iPhone users within the bloc now have greater freedom to install other apps.

Jason Snell:

AltStore and Testut knew exactly what they were doing when they implied an Apple endorsement of this product, presumably based on Apple’s notarization approval of an iOS app. Legally, Apple must notarize apps so long as they are “free of known malware, viruses or other security threats, function as promised and don’t expose users to egregious fraud.” So you can see that Apple’s hands are tied here. Which is why Apple is deeply unhappy with AltStore’s announcement, releasing this PR statement:

We are deeply concerned about the safety risks that hardcore porn apps of this type create for EU users, especially kids. This app and others like it will undermine consumer trust and confidence in our ecosystem that we have worked for more than a decade to make the best in the world. Contrary to the false statements made by the marketplace developer, we certainly do not approve of this app and would never offer it in our App Store. The truth is that we are required by the European Commission to allow it to be distributed by marketplace operators like AltStore and Epic who may not share our concerns for user safety.

But here’s the thing about notarization: Apple has used it in the past, in the EU, for reasons not covered by the above exceptions.

[…]

Apple representatives claim that AltStore is lying by asserting that Hot Tub was approved by the company. (Though it’s not great that Apple’s own emails use the phrase, “The following app has been approved for distribution.”) Instead, they claim that Apple’s hands are tied by the European Commission. And yet… the company has used its lever before to protect users from (checking my notes here) emulators of very old Mac models. Seems dangerous.

Paul Haddad:

If Apple doesn’t want notarization to imply approval they maybe should stop using it that way.

Steve Troughton-Smith:

You decided notarization would be an approval process, and you inserted yourself in it, which means yes you approved this app.

Much like you didn't approve a bunch of other apps, like emulators.

Phil Dennis-Jordan:

Apple decided any non-App-Store-app would require their approval, therefore if this app ships, Apple has approved it.

If iOS notarisation was anything like macOS app notarisation (automated, takes literally 1 minute) then sure, I’d say calling it “Apple-approved” would be misleading. But by all accounts, iOS notarisation is not that. It’s app store review without the app store.

AltStore:

Unfortunately, Apple has rejected several apps from our store in the past for dubious reasons, so the phrase “Apple-approved” in our marketing is a reference to the fact that Hot Tub was approved, not rejected, by Apple for notarization.

John Gruber:

What they mean is that Hot Tub was duly notarized by Apple — an ostensibly technical, not editorial, review that encompasses (using terms from Apple’s own documentation) accuracy, functionality, safety, security, and privacy. I say “ostensibly” there because Apple has, controversially, refused to notarize apps for other reasons[…]

[…]

If we want to get nitty-gritty over verbs, I’d argue that Apple accepts apps — like Hot Tub — for notarization, not approves. Begrudging acceptance is more of a thing than begrudging approval.

Apple is the one who literally chose to use the word “approved” after an app passes notarization.

Riccardo Mori:

Notice the weasely wording of the statement, making it sound as if the EU is to blame. “We didn’t want to distribute this, but the EU made us do it!”

It’s very weaselly. There’s no allegation that there’s actually anything unsafe about the app. It’s gone through Apple’s vaunted review process and runs within a sandbox. Apple is just spreading FUD and throwing its partner under the bus, implying that they have bad motives. It’s also trying to imply that Epic is distributing porn, which is not the case.

Tim Sweeney:

To correct Apple’s false statement screenshotted here, Epic Games Store for PC and mobile - unlike Apple’s App Store - don’t host any porn apps, have never hosted porn apps.

Steve Troughton-Smith:

Adult apps aren’t kept off of iPhone. The top 50 list on the App Store includes several apps filled with hardcore porn, including social media apps and Reddit. This is entirely performative.

Tim Sweeney:

Apple is being extremely disingenuous in attacking the European Union here. The iOS App Store hosts the Reddit app, which provides access to massive amounts of porn. Apple knows this, permits it, and gave Reddit a 17+ (!!!) rating and Editors Choice award.

Peter Steinberger:

Let’s hope nobody tells Apple about Reddit and X!

Not to mention that there’s more porn in Safari than in any third-party app.

John Gruber (Mastodon):

You’ve been able to watch porno on your iPhone since the first day it shipped — a full year ahead of the App Store — by using the web. Apple’s line has always been clear: native apps = Apple-approved; the web = anything goes.

[…]

Jobs responded:

Fiore’s app will be in the store shortly. That was a mistake. However, we do believe we have a moral responsibility to keep porn off the iPhone. Folks who want porn can buy an Android phone.

I agree that Apple shouldn’t be policing what a Web browser can do, but that makes Jobs’ statement nonsensical. There’s every reason to assume that iPhone was and is one of the leading ways that people get this content. If Apple has a moral responsibility, it’s completely failing. It’s not even blocking porn in native apps in the App Store.

John Gruber:

Sweeney has a real point here, and it really is a bit of a conundrum.

[…]

But how is it possible that these super popular platforms have apps in the no-porn App Store while hosting tons of porn? It’s an issue with Reddit, with Tumblr, and apparently especially so with X (fka Twitter).

[…]

I think Sweeney’s synopsis captures Apple’s de facto policy accurately, with the exception that they don’t welcome apps that host porn (so long as the app has controls to hide it, and if the adult content is effectively a side hustle in the overall context of the app), but tolerate it.

Some banks are too big to fail. Some platforms are too big to ban. Apple won’t say that, but that’s clearly the tacit policy.

That’s how a lot of the App Store works. There’s what they say, and then there’s what they actually do.

Putting aside whether this should even be Apple’s role, I think it’s fair to say that they care more about appearing to be on the right side of the issue than about actually addressing it. If they approved an app like Hot Tub with an appropriate age range and warning label, everyone would be clear on what’s happening. Parents could easily block their kids from installing it. What they are actually doing is promoting—giving Editors Choice awards—to apps that hide the content within an innocuous looking shell.

Previously:

Spotify Profitable

Ben Lovejoy:

Spotify achieved its first full year of profitability since launching in 2008. The company has previously had occasional profitable quarters, but consistently lost money each year.

[…]

One profitability factor may have been Apple’s decision to allow Spotify to display pricing within the iOS app within Europe, and to direct users to the Spotify website to sign up – avoiding Apple’s 30% cut.

[…]

It was never clear why Apple blocked this given that it appeared to be permissible under the company’s music entitlement.

Todd Spangler:

There was only about a two-year window (from June 2014 to May 2016) during which Spotify Premium subs could opt to sign up and pay through the Apple App Store. Now [July 2023], Spotify is no longer letting those customers continue paying through Apple’s in-app purchases.

Jem Aswad (via Hacker News):

Spotify paid out $10 billion to the music industry in 2024 — some $1 billion more than last year, the previous record — making its total around $60 billion since it was founded in 2006. The company made the announcement in a blog post Tuesday morning.

[…]

In 2023, the company said it pays out nearly 70% of every dollar it generates from music back to the industry, generating its music revenue from two sources: subscription fees from its Premium platform paying subscribers, and fees from advertisings on music on its Free tier.

Previously:

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