{"id":29741,"date":"2020-08-10T16:06:44","date_gmt":"2020-08-10T20:06:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=29741"},"modified":"2021-07-30T14:10:41","modified_gmt":"2021-07-30T18:10:41","slug":"funneling-into-apple-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2020\/08\/10\/funneling-into-apple-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Funneling Into Apple News+"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tony Haile<\/a> (also: MacRumors<\/a>):<\/p>\n

I wonder how many publishers in Apple News+ realize that the new iOS14 and MacOS Big Sur are by default intercepting traffic to their sites and sending it to the Apple News app instead.<\/p>

This traffic interception has two interesting consequences: 1) Any strategic rationale that Apple News+ represents a separate channel\/audience is now gone. This directly cannibalizes a publishers’ core subscription audience.<\/p>

2) Apple has been touting privacy as its core attribute, particularly blocking cross-site tracking. In this case, not only is Apple engaging in cross-site tracking, but is doing so as a default opt-in buried in the settings.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The setting is called “Open Web Links in News.”<\/p>\n\n

M.G. Siegler<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

As a user I noticed it as I kept getting notices that Apple News had crashed, which is weird because I didn’t have it open. But it was intercepting links I was opening in background on browser. What a weird experience. Who wants to open another whole app to read a single article?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Russell Schneider<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Additionally, many links to external published article url’s change to apple news urls’s if go to open the article in Safari or to email a link. This is a cruddy user experience<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Jimmy<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Even worse: since the beginning, they’ve been hijacking .rss links and shoveling you to News, then giving you a warning that the RSS feed is not part of Apple News. It’s insane.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

John Koetsier<\/a> (via Hacker News<\/a>):<\/p>\n

\n

Apple looks to be giving its own ad network a leg up on competitors with customer data that other ad networks can’t access. In iOS 14, Apple Advertising appears to have a separate settings panel with a default-on setting. Other advertisers and ad networks on iOS, however, need to ask permission every single time.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n