Vinyl has been on a resurgence, and it seems like the pandemic has accelerated that. When Amazon launches a record of the month club to capitalize on it, you know it’s reached a tipping point. All this means many of us are looking to upgrade from a cheap turntable and build our first HiFi system. While there are many parts to that, perhaps most important are the speakers. If your speakers don’t sound good, what’s the point?
In a bid to help, we’ve assessed some of the best passive speakers under $600. These will need an amplifier, yes, but offer greater flexibility to your HiFi setup. And if you’ve been living with built-in speakers or all-in-one setups, we explain exactly what you might need. I promise you — it’s a beginner-friendly guide for recent vinyl addicts.
Instead, it's a platform where people go 'to be entertained.'
Instagram doesn't see itself as a platform where people go to share photos anymore. That's the main takeaway from a series of comments made by the head of the company, Adam Mosseri. "Let's be honest, there's some really serious competition right now," Mosseri said. "TikTok is huge, YouTube is even bigger and there are a lot of other upstarts as well." To stay competitive, Mosseri said Instagram has to embrace that aspect of itself, and that will mean changes. One way the app will change is with Instagram handing out more recommendations. He also said Instagram plans to embrace video more broadly, focusing on full-screen and immersive content. Continue reading.
Google has updated its Pay app's Passes API to simplify storing and displaying a digital card on Android to show a users' COVID-19 test and vaccination details. The tech giant has given access to the API to healthcare organizations, government agencies and organizations authorized to distribute COVID vaccines. That means their developers can easily create digital COVID vaccine and test cards that users can store on their device. Continue reading.
Porsche is planning a worldwide recall of its Taycan EV over a software issue that can cause sudden power loss. The action follows an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which started in May following reports of cars switching to emergency mode. There have been no reports of accidents or injuries, according to sources familiar with the situation, but the NHTSA has also reached out to Volkswagen (Porshe’s parent company) regarding the Audi e-tron GT and RS e-tron GT, both of which use a similar powertrain to the Taycan. Continue reading.
With all of the changes that came to macOS Big Sur last year, we didn't expect Apple to deliver much with this year's update. It seems like iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 got the bulk of the upgrades this time around. But with major changes to Safari, FaceTime and new SharePlay features, the update is worth your attention. Devindra Hardwar gives it a test drive. Continue reading.
Nixxes is Sony's second studio purchase in a week.
Sony has just bought another studio, and, no, it’s not Bluepoint Games. On Thursday, the company announced the acquisition of Nixxes Software, a Dutch developer best known for supporting Crystal Dynamics, IO Interactive and Eidos Montreal in porting some of their games over to PC. The deal suggests Sony may step up its efforts to bring more of its exclusives to Windows. The company released Horizon Zero Dawn and Days Gone to Steam and the Epic Games Store, and Sony president Jim Ryan has said that more of the company’s first-party games would make their way to the PC. Continue reading.
With all of the changes that came to macOS Big Sur last year, we didn't expect Apple to deliver much with this year's update, Monterey. And for the most part, that prediction held true. iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 got the bulk of the upgrades this time around. But that doesn't mean Apple has forgotten about its computers. After testing out the first macOS Monterey public beta, I'd wager Mac fans will be pleased to see just how much it pushes Apple's desktop vision forward. It's not a dramatic leap like Windows 11, but, well, it doesn't really have to be.
What's in the public beta?
This Monterey public beta includes the FaceTime and SharePlay updates, which will also show up in Apple's mobile operating systems. There's also the dramatically redesigned Safari browser, and improved Focus options for managing notifications and other distractions.
Unfortunately, you won't see our most anticipated new feature, Universal Control. That'll let you use a single keyboard and mouse to control multiple Macs and iPads simultaneously. Given just how complex the feature appears to be, it makes sense for Apple to take time and make sure it's fully baked. It'll likely pop up in a future beta as we get closer to a final release in the fall.
Safari
After loading up the Monterey public beta for the first time, I had a hard time telling if I actually upgraded from Big Sur. But then I launched the new Safari browser, which sent my head spinning. Say goodbye to the tabs bar — get used to juggling your tabs, address bar and navigation buttons all in a thin menu at the top.
Clearly, the goal is to devote as much screen space to web pages as possible. That makes for a better browsing experience on smaller devices, like the 13-inch MacBook Air I’ve been testing on. But it also means a lot more clutter when trying to sort through your tabs. It's not bad when dealing with just a few tabs, but once I racked up 10 or more, they all got reduced to their site icons. It used to take a lot more tabs to make Safari that unusable.
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
While you can always hover your cursor over the icons to see a small preview of the page, that can be a slow process if you're trying to fish through tons of tabs from one site. You can also bundle tabs together in groups now, which could be useful if you're on a serious research binge. You can name tab groups and swap between different sets in an instant. It's a more elegant solution than opening more Safari windows, and best of all it's also synced across the browser on iOS and iPadOS.
Beyond the new interface, Safari is still the zippiest browser on macOS by far. I typically juggle Chrome and Safari at the same time — it's helpful for keeping work and personal logins separate — and Apple's browser always loads pages just a bit faster.
Apple
FaceTime and SharePlay
In macOS Monterey, FaceTime is starting to look a lot more like Zoom. And I suppose that makes sense, given just how essential group video chats have been over the past year. Now you can start a FaceTime call without ringing anyone directly. Once you're in, you can either invite your friends or create a link for anyone to join, even if they're on an Android device. Your calls are more like events anticipating a group of people, instead of individual chats where you may rope in a friend or two.
During my testing, a friend was able to join my FaceTime weblink via his iPhone running iOS 14, but he couldn't hear anything. When he moved over to his Mac, everything worked fine. Since he was running macOS Catalina, though, it still showed up as a web FaceTime call, instead of automatically opening the app.
If you've got AirPods or other headphones that support Spatial Audio, you'll also be able to hear people’s voices coming from different directions based on their screen position in FaceTime. They'll need to be running the Monterey or iOS/iPadOS 15 beta for the feature to work, but it'll certainly be more useful once those updates finally drop. During my testing, I heard two friends coming from the left and right channels of my AirPod Pros. It's like you're sitting at a small table together. I'd imagine it would also be useful for users who are visually impaired and hard of hearing, as the separation makes it easier to keep track of multiple people.
I’d imagine many more people will be FaceTiming their friends to take advantage of SharePlay, which allows you to watch shows and listen to music with others. Using it could be more intuitive, though. When trying out the feature with other Monterey and iOS 15 beta testers, it took us a while to figure out there wasn’t a SharePlay button anywhere within FaceTime. Instead, you have to start playing a piece of media, which triggers a pop-up notification that asks if you want to share it with friends, or view it on your own.
Once I figured that out, it was nice to be able to sit back and watch a few minutes of Mythic Quest with my friends. Unfortunately, even though FaceTime is opening up to Android and Windows users with web video chats, those folks won’t be able to enjoy SharePlay content. And it remains to be seen if and how media providers adopt the service. With Apple TV+ content, you and your friends need to have subscriptions to watch anything. I can’t imagine Netflix or Disney+ being more lax and allowing a single subscriber to share something with friends.
Other notable additions:
The new Focus Modes are a nice way to reduce distractions from notifications. You can also customize your Focus options to allow messages from specific users.
Quick Notes is a simple way to grab quotes and other snippets of information from websites and documents. They appear inside of the Notes app and are synchronized across all of your Apple devices with iCloud.
I didn’t have much time to dive into Shortcuts, but at first glance they appear to be a more user-friendly stab at macOS Automations. One of the built-in Shortcuts is supposed to make a GIF from video files, but it kept throwing an error whenever I tried to trigger it with Siri.
Live Text is a nifty feature that lets you select text embedded in photos. It’s useful for grabbing information from receipts, and I’d wager it’d be helpful for handwritten notes as well.
While iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 are Apple's major software focus this year, there's still plenty to look forward to in macOS Monterey. And you'll be able to get your first taste of it today with the launch of the MacOS Monterey public beta. You can sign up to receive it on Apple's beta software page.
Apple's new OS features a dramatically redesigned version of Safari, which combines tabs and menu options into a single compact bar, as well as enhanced FaceTime features and the ability to enjoy media together with friends. There's also Universal Control — a feature that, sadly, isn't in this public beta — that will eventually let you control your Macs and iPads with a single keyboard and mouse.
Even without Universal Control, the public beta still gives you a sense of how Apple's latest OS feels. The new Safari, in particular, will take a bit of getting used to (though it's not as dramatically different as in iOS 15). And it's nice to see Apple finally giving FaceTime some new capabilities, even if many of them seem to mimic Zoom. You'll also be able to test out AirPlaying audio to macOS, as well as some simplified automation capabilities with Shortcuts.
Let us know what you think of the maCOS Monterey public beta below! As with most beta releases, though, be wary of throwing it onto your primary computer.
Instagram doesn't see itself anymore as a platform where people go to share and look at photos. That's the main takeaway from a series of recent comments made by the head of the company, Adam Mosseri. "We're no longer a photo-sharing app or a square photo-sharing app," Mosseri said in a video he posted to his social media accounts this week. According to Mosseri, the main reason for that is that people come to Instagram "to be entertained," and it's not the only app that offers that in what is a crowded marketplace.
Changes are coming to video on Instagram 📺
At Instagram we’re always trying to build new features that help you get the most out of your experience. Right now we’re focused on four key areas: Creators, Video, Shopping and Messaging. pic.twitter.com/ezFp4hfDpf
"Let's be honest, there's some really serious competition right now," Mosseri said. "TikTok is huge, YouTube is even bigger and there are a lot of other upstarts as well." To stay competitive, Mosseri said Instagram has to embrace that aspect of itself. "And that means change." One way the app will change is with Instagram handing out more recommendations. Mosseri referenced a test the company kicked off last week that's seen it intersperse "Suggested Posts" in users' feeds. He also said Instagram plans to embrace video more broadly, focusing on full-screen and immersive content.
In short, what Mosseri is describing is Instagram becoming more like TikTok. And that's something we've already seen the company try to do with features like Reels. Of course, it's one thing to adapt to your rivals and another to lose sight of what made your platform compelling to people in the first place. Together with things like a dedicated shopping hub, Reels and Stories have made Instagram feel bloated and less vital than it was before.
With the iOS 15 and watchOS 8 public betas now available for testing, it’s time for us to get an early look at some of the features coming to Apple’s biggest platforms. While the next watchOS might not be as big a change as iOS 15, it still introduces new tools that promise better integration with your iPhone, along with some health and fitness updates.
If you’re thinking of checking the public beta out for yourself, make sure you’ve thought twice about the risk of running preview software instead of a stable release. Those who simply can't wait for a stable public release of the upcoming platform can sign up for Apple's beta program and install the builds now, provided you have an Apple Watch Series 3 and newer, as well as an iPhone running the iOS 15 beta. Either way, we've checked out the watchOS 8 beta so you can see from a safe distance or decide if the changes are worth the trouble right now.
Mindfulness, health and fitness
Though there aren't huge updates coming to watchOS 8, Apple's new health-centric features could interest those looking for a more wholistic approach to wellbeing. The company has renamed its Breathe app to Mindfulness, adding a meditation guide to the existing breathing exercises. You can set each Mindfulness session's duration to 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 minutes before starting. A prompt appears before each session to help you focus your thoughts, along with a button to begin.
So far, I've seen typical meditation prompts that tell you to be aware of your thoughts and let them pass without judgement. Some other examples include "Think of someone you care about. Imagine you can feel your connection with them" and "Consider the values that matter to you in something you’re focused on."
Then, a colorful swirling animation takes up the screen. I usually just lean back and close my eyes at this point, but if you continue to stare at your watch, the animation is a nice distraction that's almost hypnotizing. At the end of your set time, the watch vibrates and shows a closing thought tied to the opening prompt, like "Bring this sense of open awareness with you." You'll also see your total Mindful minutes for the day (which includes time spent doing Breathe exercises) and your heart rate. After two Mindfulness sessions, my Apple Watch SE said my pulse plummeted from 67 to 47bpm, which is great I guess.
On its own, this feels like a glorified timer meets fortune cookie meets Magic 8 Ball, all set to Windows Music Player-style visualizations. But combined with reminders throughout the day that you can customize, Mindfulness could help remind you to check in with yourself periodically to assess your state of mind.
A few other health-centric additions to watchOS include two new Workout categories: Tai Chi and Pilates. I've yet to have a session of either exercise so I can't say how accurately Apple tracks these yet. There are also a couple more features I need more time to get a better sense for, like respiratory rate tracking overnight and walking steadiness. The latter requires about two weeks of walking with your iPhone stashed somewhere on your body, so it'll take some time before I get results.
Messaging, watch faces and new apps
A big part of the watchOS 8 update is improved communications tools and integration with your iPhone. Notably, the Messages app now allows you to compose via Scribble, Dictate and Emojis all within the same screen. I scrawled out part of a message, dictated longer parts of it, and added emoji from one page easily. Editing is also less of a hassle than before, thanks in large part to being able to use the Digital Crown as a cursor controller now. Hallelujah! Scrolling back to insert a space or fix a stray "v" got so much better.
There's also a new option now to send GIFs in Messages, from the same place you'd send a Digital Touch (just hit the search glass button and type in your keyword).
Communicating with people is also made easier thanks to the new Contacts app, which lets you find specific friends more quickly. If you've set one of iOS 15's new Focus modes on your iPhone, the same settings will apply to your watch. People and apps that have been blocked will remain muted on your wrist, and it was helpful to see a symbol at the top of the screen indicating which Focus mode is active.
Contacts isn't the only new app for watchOS 8. Apple's also redesigning Home to make interacting with your connected appliances easier, and bringing Find Items, Find Devices, and Tips to your wrist. The new OS will also add support for ultra wideband to enable more precise car key functions like spatial awareness.
This story is developing, please refresh for updates.
The iOS 15 public beta is live today, which means a larger swath of people can now check out the latest features coming to iPhones later this year. Despite being a beta, it’s surprisingly complete, with most of the coming changes already available. Some of the updates getting the most buzz are the new Focus modes and FaceTime sharing tools, but there are also changes across Messages, Maps, Weather, Safari, Photos and more to check out.
So far, the preview software seems largely stable. But as always with betas, think twice about how willing you are to risk bricking your phone in exchange for early access to new features. Regardless of whether that's you, we've put together a detailed preview of how iOS 15 will work when it launches in the fall.
FaceTime: SharePlay, screen sharing and spatial audio
Though it would have been a lot more helpful if Apple had launched this feature during the throes of the pandemic, FaceTime’s SharePlay feature will still be useful for many of us. Whether you want to watch an episode of Ted Lasso with your long-distance buddy or provide remote tech support to your relatives, SharePlay and screen sharing over FaceTime will make your life a little easier.
Screenshots of iOS 15 beta
Unfortunately, my colleague Mat Smith and I had to futz around for ages before we figured out how to SharePlay something. While screen sharing is more straightforward — just press a button at the bottom right of a new control panel at the top of FaceTime calls — SharePlay options only show up when you have a compatible media app open during a chat. Mat and I are seasoned tech journalists and we still spent some time looking for a SharePlay-specific button, which seems like the more intuitive way.
Once we figured it out, things went a little more smoothly. When you try to play an episode or video while on a FaceTime call, a window pops up asking if you want to use SharePlay. From there, you can choose to stream with your caller (or callers), play it only for yourself, or cancel.
As a reminder, depending on the app, both you and your friend will need subscriptions to watch stuff together on SharePlay. For Apple’s services like TV+ and Music, you’ll both need a subscription or trial. Other streaming apps like HBO Max, Hulu and Disney+ will be the ones that decide whether all parties need accounts to watch shows together on SharePlay, but it’s highly unlikely they allow it some other way.
On our attempts to stream episodes of Mythic Quest and Central Park on SharePlay, though, Mat and I kept getting a failure notice saying “Unable to SharePlay. This title isn’t available to SharePlay with people in different countries or regions.” It’s odd, since both those shows are available in both our regions. It’s also sad that you wouldn’t be allowed to watch it with someone abroad. Apple hasn’t said if this limit will be in place when iOS 15 launches, but if it is it’ll be disappointing for anyone that was looking forward to SharePlaying with their overseas partners, families and friends. We’ll update this article if Apple confirms this either way.
Screen sharing worked better. I was able to show Mat my dubious shopping list on Instagram though, as it does with other video chat apps, my camera automatically turned off whenever I shared my screen. When Mat streamed his display, his camera stayed on. We suspect this has something to do with the fact that he’s using a more capable iPhone 12 mini while I was on an aging iPhone XR that was burning up from my testing. This is a known issue with SharePlay that has been detailed in the iOS 15 developer beta release notes, so it may get fixed in time.
Screenshots of the iOS 15 beta
Two other FaceTime features that are also live in this beta: links to join calls from non-Apple devices and spatial audio. The latter lets you hear each person in a call from the direction where they’re positioned on your FaceTime grid. Since it required multiple people running the beta to work, I couldn’t fully experience this. I got on a call with Mat and our former colleague Chris Velazco, and while Mat and I were able to hear each other from different directions, Chris wasn’t on the beta and did not notice the effect.
I also sent FaceTime web links to Chris, as well as Engadget staffers Nathan Ingraham and Valentina Palladino. The URL brought us to a page that prompted us to enter our names, and as the host I could choose to allow or block each would-be participant. Chris was able to join my call from a non-Apple laptop, while Valentina and Nate went through the browser on their Macs. Meanwhile, I was using an iPhone. Everyone looked and sounded great… to me.
Valentina and Nate couldn’t hear each other until they used the FaceTime app on their MacBooks. Chris also couldn’t hear other people on the call — all anyone heard was my beautiful voice. (As it should be.) But really, this appears to be an issue with how browsers handle audio input devices or a possible bug in the beta.
It’s not yet clear whether the region-specific SharePlay restrictions will also work this way in the stable release. But so far, barring some glitches, the updates to Apple’s video calling app appear meaty and potentially very useful.
Focus modes
I’ve spent too much time talking about FaceTime, so I’m going to try to succinctly describe the other iOS 15 features I’ve tested thus far. One of these felt incredibly relevant as I spent time finishing this article on deadline: Focus modes. Here, Apple allows you to customize profiles that will allow notifications from specific apps or people when enabled.
Screenshots from the iOS 15 beta
Three placeholders are available at the start: Work, Bedtime and Personal. On your first time trying to enable each, you’ll have to set up which contacts and apps to allow. You can also choose to enable your Focus Status so people who try to reach you will see that you’re away when they’re using a compatible app. Developers of messaging apps will have to use Apple’s API to enable this, so that your friends who hit you up on, say, Telegram or Facebook Messenger will see your status too.
For now, only Apple’s own Messages supports it and I was able to see below our conversation that Mat had silenced notifications. I sent a message anyway, and the app showed my text was “delivered quietly.” Just like you can on Slack, you can choose to “notify anyway” so your message breaks through the wall of silence. (I’m not an awful person so I didn’t, poor Mat had already put up with my relentless testing and FaceTiming all day.)
With each Focus mode, you can also pick a home screen showing just the apps you want. To do so, you’ll have to first create each page as an additional panel on your main screen, then select the relevant one when customizing your Focus mode. I created a barebones page with just four apps and designated it as my main Personal screen. I also made a different option for Work and was able to have apps appear on multiple pages — Instagram and Twitter could be placed on every page, for example. When each mode was enabled, I couldn’t see any other page; swiping sideways only showed the apps drawer and the Today view.
I haven’t spent enough time with the beta to know how useful these customized views will be, but I’m already in love with the ability to pick different notifications profiles. You can also set them to automatically activate based on the time of day, your location or app usage. Again, this is something I’ll need to use for more than a few days, but I appreciate the concept. Unfortunately, I haven’t encountered Notifications summaries in the beta yet.
Live text (aka Apple’s version of Google Lens)
Many other iOS 15 updates are similar to features that competitors already offer, and the most obvious of these is Live Text. This tool scans the photos on your device for words and turns them into text you can actually use, whether it’s copying and pasting a phone number to another app or translating foreign words on a menu. This is basically Apple's answer to Google Lens, which has been around for years.
Screenshots of the iOS 15 beta
Similar to Lens, Apple’s version will show a small symbol at the bottom right of each image in the Photos app to indicate it’s found something. Tap that icon, and all the characters in that picture will be highlighted, and you can select the portions you need. I snapped a picture of my bottle of moisturizer and was able to copy all the words on the label and URLs also got identified as links I could click through. You can also use Live Text via the Camera app’s viewfinder without snapping a shot, by the way. When your phone detects words in the scene, the same icon will appear in the bottom right and you can hit it to pull up the snippets that Live Text noticed.
So far, this generally performed as expected, though it's worth noting that as its name suggests, Live Text only works on images that have a lot of words in them. But even a photo of my dinner, which included a container of yogurt with a brand name prominently displayed on it, didn’t trigger Live Text. Google’s Lens, meanwhile, will identify buildings, pets, furniture and clothes in pictures with nary a letter in them.
Maps, Photos and generally tighter integration
Elsewhere in iOS 15 you’ll find updates to Maps, Weather and Photos. In some cities, Apple’s maps look richer and more detailed than before, thanks to meticulous drawings of individual trees, lanes, traffic lights and more. I was able to explore a golf course in San Francisco, as well as the Conservatory of Flowers and Dutch Windmill in the Golden Gate Park in surprisingly detailed 2D and 3D views. I was disappointed when I zoomed super close to the Penguin Island in the San Francisco zoo and there were no cute little feathered friends. But I guess that’d be too much to ask.
Screenshots of the iOS 15 beta
Memories in Photos has also been updated to give you greater control over who shows up in them and what music plays in the background. You can now edit your pictures’ descriptions to create richer alt text that stays with each image as you forward them to friends. I liked using this to identify people and places in a photo for contacts who are blind or have low vision. Even though I added keywords like “sunset” and people’s names to some pictures’ descriptions, searches for those words in my iPhone’s Spotlight didn’t return those images. It would be nice, but the descriptions aren’t currently being indexed for that.
But that’s another update in iOS 15: Spotlight searches for all things in your phone will now include your photos in results, too. It uses Apple’s own machine learning to detect things in your library though, and this is still sometimes inaccurate. I searched for “Cherlynn” and “Sunset” and was shown screenshots with my name in them and an image of a red-hot map of New York from the Weather app that Apple thought was a sunset. This isn’t perfect, but at least photos are better integrated into Spotlight now.
Another update that provides better integration across iOS is the consolidation of media that your friends send you. Apple calls this Share With You, and things from your recent interactions with each person will show up there — pictures that Mat sent me of his adorable baby niece, as well as the screenshots he shared from our FaceTime adventures, were all in his page in the Phone app.
Screenshots of the iOS 15 beta
There’s still a ton more to explore not only in the public beta but in iOS 15 when the final release is ready. The Weather app has new maps that appropriately show just how scorching hot it’s been in the New York area these last few days. And we still have to test more things like Safari mobile extensions and ID and keys support in Wallet. For now, this has been an intriguing taste of what to expect in the software update. Despite a few snags, it looks like iPhone users will have plenty to look forward to later this year.
There's plenty to look forward to in the upcoming iOS 15 update: SharePlay in FaceTime, new Focus modes, better Maps and Weather apps, as well as deeper integration across Messages, Photos and more. Though there's still some time to wait before the next OS officially rolls out, those eager to try early versions of these new features can check them out starting today. Apple has released the iOS 15 public beta and if you're curious enough to install potentially unstable software, you can run it today. Additionally, Apple also dropped the public betas for iPadOS 15 (which shares many of the same features as iOS 15) and watchOS 8. Make sure you back up your data before you begin!
iOS 15 will be compatible with iPhone 6S and later (including both generations of the iPhone SE), as well as the 7th-generation iPod Touch. Those hoping to test watchOS 8 will also need an Apple Watch Series 3, 4, 5 or 6 running the iOS 15 beta. If you have compatible hardware, all you have to do is sign up for Apple's beta program on its website here. You'll get a notification that it's ready to install (or you can keep looking at your "Software update" page in Settings). We've been using a developer beta build for a couple of days and, assuming it's largely similar to the public beta, the software seems fairly stable with occasional glitches in specific apps.
While your devices are enrolled in the beta program, you'll receive updates automatically when they're publicly available. If you've played around with the preview and decide you've had enough, you can revert to an older version by unenrolling. Once again, to ensure that your data is safe, make sure you perform a back up before getting the beta.
Near the end of the Epic v. Apple trial, Judge Yvonne Gonzales Rogers had some pointed questions for Tim Cook on the state of Apple’s relationship with its developers. Citing an internal survey of developers, she noted that 39 percent of them indicated they were unhappy with the App Store’s distribution. What incentive then, she asked, does Apple have to work with them.
Cook seemed to be caught off guard by the question. He said Apple rejects a lot of apps and that “friction” can be a good thing for users. Rogers replied that it “doesn’t seem you feel pressure or competition to change the manner in which you act to address concerns of developers.”
It was a brief, but telling, exchange. And one that strikes at the heart of Apple’s currently rocky relationship with developers.
Epic vs. Apple vs. developers
Ostensibly, Epic’s antitrust case against Apple was about the iPhone maker’s treatment of Fortnite and its refusal to allow the game developer to bypass the App Store for in-app purchases. Epic, along with many other prominent developers, has long chafed at Apple’s 30 percent commission, or “App Store” tax.
It’s not just that they see 30 percent as greedy and unfair (Apple recently lowered its take to 15 percent for small developers). It’s that Apple has appeared to treat some developers differently than others. For example, documents unearthed during the trial detail how Apple went to great lengths to prevent Netflix from yanking in-app purchases from its app.
After considering “punitive measures” toward the streaming giant, Apple offered Netflix custom APIs that most developers don't have access to. It also dangled the possibility of additional promotion in the App Store or even at its physical retail stores. Netflix ended up pulling in-app purchases anyway, but it was illustrative of the kind of “special treatment” many developers have long suspected Apple employs towards some apps.
Meanwhile, game developers have no choice but to pay Apple’s “tax.” Not only that, but Apple’s rules prohibit them from even alerting their users that they may be able to make the same purchase elsewhere for less — what’s known as its “anti-steering” rules.
Friction over these rules is nothing new. But the details of these arrangements, and Apple’s hardball tactics with developers, had never been as exposed as they were during the trial.
“What was great about the Epic trial was that it brought many of these issues to light and into the public dialogue,” said Meghan DiMuzio, executive director for the Coalition for App Fairness, an advocacy group representing developers who believe Apple’s policies are anticompetitive. “I think we saw how Apple more generally chooses to approach their relationships with developers and how they value, or don't value, their relationships with developers. I think those are really incredible soundbites and storylines to have out in the public eye.”
The case touched on other issues that have been the source of long-simmering developer frustrations with Cupertino, and not just for giants like Netflix. Epic also highlighted common developer complaints around App Store search ads, fraudulent apps and Apple’s often inscrutable review process.
In one particularly memorable exchange, the developer of yoga app Down Dog spoke at length about how Apple’s opaque policies can have an outsize impact on developers. For example, he said Apple had repeatedly rejected app updates for seemingly bizarre reasons, like using a “wrong” color on a login page. Once, he said, an update was rejected because App Store reviewers couldn’t find his app’s integration with Apple’s Health app. He later realized it was because the reviewers were testing on an iPad, which doesn’t support the Health app.
These types of complaints are probably familiar to most developers. It’s not unusual for Apple to quibble over the placement of a particular button, or some other minor feature. These seemingly small issues can drag on for days or weeks, as Epic repeatedly pointed out. But it’s rare for such squabbles to spill over into public view as they did during the trial.
The trial raised other, more fundamental issues, too. A witness for Epic testified that the operating margin for the App Store was 78 percent, a figure Apple disputed but didn’t offer evidence to the contrary. Instead, Tim Cook and other execs have maintained they simply don’t know how much money the App Store makes.
Cook did, however, have much more to say when pressed on whether game developers effectively “subsidize” the rest of the App Store. “We are creating the entire amount of commerce on the store, and we’re doing that by focusing on getting the largest audience there,” Cook stated.
The argument struck a nerve with some. Marco Arment, a longtime iOS developer whose apps have been featured by Apple, wrote a scathing blog post in response.
“The idea that the App Store is responsible for most customers of any reasonably well-known app is a fantasy,” Arment writes. “The App Store is merely one platform’s forced distribution gateway, ‘facilitating’ the commerce no more and no less than a web browser, an ISP or cellular carrier, a server-hosting company, or a credit-card processor. For Apple to continue to claim otherwise is beyond insulting, and borders on delusion.”
Determining just how many developers agree with that sentiment, though, is trickier. There are millions of iOS developers and for much of the App Store’s history, most have been reluctant to publicly criticize Apple. The company has conducted its own surveys — as evidenced in the Epic trial disclosures — but the findings aren’t typically made public. And even Cook admitted he was unsure if it’s a metric the company regularly tracks.
“There's not a lot of actual third party survey on the developer ecosystem,” says Ben Bajarin, CEO of analyst firm Creative Strategies. He has been conducting his own poll of Apple developers to gauge their feelings toward the company.
He says he sees “a pretty big gap” between the smaller, independent developers and the larger businesses on the App Store. Developers with smaller projects, he says, are “simply much more reliant on Apple.” And while they quibble with things like search ads or Apple’s review process, they don’t have many alternatives. “These aren’t developers that have a huge budget for marketing… they’re entirely reliant on Apple to get them customers.”
The coming antitrust battles
These issues could end up being much bigger than Epic’s or a few other high-profile frustrated developers. Regardless of the outcome of the Epic trial, Apple is facing other antitrust battles in the United States and Europe, where many of the same issues are being raised.
UK regulators launched an investigation into the App Store in March. That probe, which came in response to developer complaints, is looking at Apple’s rules for developers and its policies around in-app purchases. Separately, the European Union is moving forward with its own antitrust case centered around the company’s commission structure and anti-steering rules. And earlier this month, US lawmakers, who have also heard from frustrated app developers in recent months, introduced five antitrust bills targeting Apple and its fellow tech giants. One of which would bar Apple from pre-installing any apps on iPhones at all.
The outcome of any one of these could dramatically reshape how Apple runs the App Store, and the rules it sets for developers.
On its part, Apple has argued that opening the App Store would harm users and affect its ability to protect their privacy. Behind the scenes, Cook has reportedly personally lobbied members of Congress to rethink the proposed legislation.
Even if Apple is able to emerge from its antitrust fights relatively unscathed, dissatisfied developers could eventually pose a more existential problem for Apple. Bajarin, of Creative Strategies, says that issues with developers are unlikely to hurt Apple in the short term because there are still few alternatives. But, he says, that could change should Apple face competition from an emerging platform it doesn’t yet dominate, such as AR or VR.
“You just don't want this strain on developer relationships because Apple wants all those developers to be right on board day one for whatever's coming next. They need those larger developers to still prioritize their OS.”
Slack just became the latest company to embrace real-time audio. The messaging app is launching a new, Discord-like chat feature called Huddles. The feature, along with new collaboration tools for sharing pre-recorded audio and video are, according to the company, meant to provide an alternative to the “endless stream of meetings” that have dominated many office workers’ calendars during the pandemic.
Huddles allows Slack users to create impromptu meetups either in direct messages or an existing channel. When a participant starts a Huddle, other members can quickly join and chat in real time, much like you would in Discord. Though it’s meant to be “camera-free,” Huddles does support screen-sharing for an extra layer of collaboration.
Slack says the feature is a good alternative to voice or video calls because it’s a more low-pressure way for workers to quickly chat without the need to schedule a meeting. Tamar Yehoshua, the company’s chief product officer, compared Huddles to the kinds of impromptu conversations that happen in offices but don’t often occur with remote work. “It’s as if you see people congregating in a conference room and you just stick your head in and then leave when you’re ready,” she said during a briefing with reporters.
Slack
While Slack is the latest in a long list of companies embracing the audio trend kickstarted by Clubhouse, the company says it’s responding to the way that work has changed during the pandemic. After more than a year working from home, Zoom fatigue is real. At the same time, many workers may never go back to the office — at least, not full-time. So it’s not surprising Slack would respond to these shifts.
Similarly, the company is also addressing the need to collaborate when everyone isn’t online at the same time. The “schedule send” feature it recently previewed will now be rolling out. And the app is introducing new tools to share videos, voice and screen recordings within Slack.
While the app already allows users to swap video files within chats, the new tools go a step further. Users can record and share natively within a channel, and other team members can respond with a video or voice recording of their own. They also include live captioning, and both the recording and the accompanying transcription are searchable after the fact.
Finally, Slack also showed off a new directory tool for its business users called Slack Atlas. The feature adds more information to Slack’s existing profiles, such as org charts and employee start dates. It can also integrate with existing tools like Workday to automatically pull in relevant details to workers’ Slack profiles.
Judging from the first Windows 11 Insider Preview, Microsoft's next OS is shaping up to be much more than a mere Windows 10 update. The company is fundamentally shifting the way many aspects of Windows works, with a centered taskbar and redesigned Start menu, among other changes. But it's still Windows, so at its core it still works like it always has. There's the focus on productivity that Microsoft leaned into with Windows 10, along with subtler improvements that makes for a more pleasant user experience. At this point, Windows 11 feels like an OS that will please PC diehards and mainstream users alike.
At first glance, the Windows 11 Insider Preview, which started rolling out on Monday, doesn't look much different from the leaked build we covered a few weeks ago. The centered and icon-filled taskbar still looks distinctly Mac-like; the rounded window corners give off a slightly more polished vibe; and the redesigned Start menu is sure to be controversial. It features pinned app shortcuts up top, recommended files at the bottom, and a link in the top right to see the entire unfiltered Start Menu.
This Start menu is certainly different, but after testing out the leaked build for two weeks, I've grown to prefer the changes. I've never met anyone who used the Live Tiles in Windows 10's Start menu, and those were just a distilled remnant from Windows 8's horrific full-screen Start page. It's nice to be rid of that legacy, once and for all.
As I dug further into the preview build, I noticed small tweaks throughout that just felt, well, nice. Instead of combining notifications and system shortcuts into a single right-hand pane, they're now broken up across two screens. Hitting the clock in the Windows 11 taskbar brings up all of your notifications, along with a full calendar. The system shortcuts, meanwhile, are combined into a single screen that pop up when you press the Wi-Fi, sound or battery icons.
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
From there, you can join other wireless networks, and turn Bluetooth on and off, along with airplane, battery saver or Focus assist modes. Sliders along the bottom also let you manage your volume and screen brightness. This isn't that different from Windows 10, but the overall look is a lot cleaner and easier to read. (Maybe I'm just sick of hitting the "More options" to expand Windows 10's shortcut settings.)
Microsoft is also clearly pushing a taskbar UI that only features icons in Windows 11. It's something the company started doing with Windows 7, but up until Windows 10 you always had the option to turn on labels for taskbar icons (at least, until they started piling up too much). While it tended to make Windows look a bit messy, I always liked being able to see what a window contained before I actually clicked on it. Windows 11 no longer has label options of any kind, and there's no indication that Microsoft wants to bring them back. They just don't fit into the neat aesthetic the company is aiming for now.
At first I figured losing labels would be a pain, but I've grown used to living with an icon-filled taskbar over the last few weeks. And I'd gladly lose labels in exchange for better multitasking features, like this new OS's revamped window snapping. Now you can hover your mouse pointer over any app's maximize button to see an array of areas to snap it to, like the top left or bottom right of your screen. It's much more accurate than dragging a screen to a specific spot and hoping Windows automatically snaps it into place.
Whenever you use the quick snap feature, Windows 11 also shows you all of the other apps you're running in the other portions of your screen. So if you shove Slack to the top right, you can have Edge take over the entire left side and put Spotify in the lower right within a few seconds. It may sound confusing, but in practice it's a smart way to make sense of all your open windows. Snapping at least two apps together also creates a snap group in the taskbar, allowing you to easily bring up their arrangement in the future.
And if you want to take things to another level, you can customize several virtual desktops from Windows 11's task view. You can reach that by hitting the Windows key plus Tab, or by enabling the Task View shortcut in the taskbar. That's useful for creating entirely different work modes — say, one desktop for managing email and Slack, and another for focusing purely on writing. Having different spaces could help you stay in your productive “flow”, a concept Microsoft has practically made its corporate philosophy now. (Drink every time someone says "flow" at the next Windows event.)
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
One major addition with this Windows 11 preview is the new File Explorer, which wasn't fully baked in the leaked build. Now, in addition to file and folder icons, there's also a simplified toolbar at the top of the screen. But while it's far sleeker than the Windows 10 explorer, which could get seriously cluttered if you had the Office-style Ribbon toolbar open, it's also a bit confusing. There are the usual cut, copy and paste commands, but it took me a while to figure out one of the other buttons lets you rename files. I suppose it's still easier to figure out than the Ribbon though, so I'll call it a win for Microsoft.
The new Windows 11 settings app is a clearer upgrade. Like before, it's where you'll go to tweak just about everything in your PC, but now it's organized neatly into two panes. Along the left, you can choose the section, like “Bluetooth & devices,” or “Network and internet.” Along the right, you can drill down into specific settings. And if you don't have a clear sense of what you're looking for, the search bar at the top left can point you in the right direction (this is also true for every search bar throughout the OS). It seems like a silly thing to get excited about, but the new settings app could make it far easier for less tech-savvy users to adjust their systems. I can't help but applaud that.
Among other notable additions, there's also a redesigned Microsoft Store app in Windows 11. It has a navigation bar along its left side, rather than section tabs from before. Again, this seems to be a deliberate step away from Microsoft's aging Metro design, which was all about top-level tabs. Widgets also make a return in this OS, something we haven't seen since Windows 7. Now they pop up on the left side of the screen when you hit the Widgets button in the taskbar. At this point, they're just simple square apps that can show you the weather, your calendar entries, or upcoming esports matches at a glance. There's room for Microsoft to make them more useful, but it's unclear how much the company plans to invest in widgets moving forward.
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
Some of the Windows 11 features I'm most excited to try aren't yet available in this preview. That includes the ability to run Android apps, built-in Microsoft Teams chat, and AutoHDR for older games. Similarly, I haven't been able to test some intriguing new features that actually have been included, like the ability to automatically change your refresh rate while inking or scrolling. That's only possible on high-refresh-rate monitors that you typically find on gaming screens. Unfortunately, then, my Surface Laptop 4 review unit won't cut it. Still, I can imagine it being useful. Normally, I just leave gaming notebooks at their highest refresh rate, which makes scrolling and any sort of screen movement look buttery smooth. But that's not the best idea if you're trying to conserve battery life.
Even though this is the first Windows 11 Insider preview, it's easy to understand Microsoft's vision for its next OS. It's all about delivering a polished, uncluttered experience to make you more productive. If you'd like to try it out yourself, I'd strongly recommend testing it on a secondary computer. There are still some bugs that require the occasional reboot (and Microsoft is still trying to sort out installation requirements). Sometimes the auto-snap features just disappear, for example, and the old File Explorer Ribbon interface reappears. Microsoft clearly has a lot of work left to do. But at the very least, Windows 11 appears to justify an entirely new version number.
