Friday, January 17, 2025

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App Store Ecosystem Hit $643 Billion in 2020

Matt Milano
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App Store Ecosystem Hit $643 Billion in 2020

A new study has shown just how much the App Store ecosystem has grown, coming in at $643 billion in 2020, a 24% increase.

While Apple’s iOS platform may lag behind Google’s Android, in terms of market share, it receives the lion’s share of money spent on mobile apps. According to an independent study by the Analysis Group, App Store sales grew 24% year over year in 2020, reaching a whopping $643 billion.

Even more impressive, the number of small developers — defined as less than 1 million downloads and less than $1 million in earnings per year — has increased 40% since 2015. In fact, small developers now make up more than 90 percent of the App Store’s ecosystem.

“Developers on the App Store prove every day that there is no more innovative, resilient, or dynamic marketplace on earth than the app economy,” says Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The apps we’ve relied on through the pandemic have been life-changing in so many ways — from groceries delivered to our homes, to teaching tools for parents and educators, to an imaginative and ever-expanding universe of games and entertainment. The result isn’t just incredible apps for users: it’s jobs, it’s opportunity, and it’s untold innovation that will power global economies for many years to come.”

The study is an important validation of the App Store at a time when Apple is locked in a high-stakes legal fight with Epic over the very future of that ecosystem.

EU Commission Working on Digital ID Framework

Matt Milano
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EU Commission Working on Digital ID Framework

The EU Commission has proposed a digital identification framework for its citizens, one that will help further post-pandemic life.

In the wake of the pandemic, there has been increased emphasis on digital identification systems as a means for people to provide their age, citizenship, licenses, vaccination state and more. The EU has been working on a way to achieve this goal, while still providing the security and privacy necessary.

The Commission has proposed a digital framework that would allow EU citizens to rely on their phone for necessary documentation and paperwork, a system that would be accepted by all member states. The EU has emphasized that, while large platforms would be required to support it, adoption would be completely voluntary for individuals. Such a stance is in keeping with the EU’s strong privacy protections.

“The European digital identity will enable us to do in any Member State as we do at home without any extra cost and fewer hurdles,” said Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President for a Europe Fit for the Digital Age. “Be that renting a flat or opening a bank account outside of our home country. And do this in a way that is secure and transparent. So that we will decide how much information we wish to share about ourselves, with whom and for what purpose. This is a unique opportunity to take us all further into experiencing what it means to live in Europe, and to be European.”

“EU citizens not only expect a high level of security but also convenience whether they are dealing with national administrations such as to submit a tax return or to enroll at a European university where they need official identification,” said Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton. “The European Digital Identity wallets offer a new possibility for them to store and use data for all sorts of services, from checking in at the airport to renting a car. It is about giving a choice to consumers, a European choice. Our European companies, large and small, will also benefit from this digital identity, they will be able to offer a wide range of new services since the proposal offers a solution for secure and trusted identification services.”

The Commission will continue to work with member states and tech companies to work out the details as the process continues forward.

Twitter and Eric Holthaus Partner to Create Local Weather Service

Matt Milano
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Twitter and Eric Holthaus Partner to Create Local Weather Service

Twitter is partnering with Eric Holthaus, the “Rebel Nerd of Meteorology,” to offer a local weather service.

Twitter has long-since established itself as a major source for news, with usage spiking during significant events and major stories breaking on the platform. The company is now partnering with Eric Holthaus to help branch out into local weather.

The service clearly aims to offer a more social approach to weather, involving users as much as informing them.

“Every single evening, you’ll get a short message in your inbox with a forecast made by a meteorologist in your city, along with a news story, a poem, a meme, a short video, or a call to action,” says Tomorro’s About page. “Our goal is to share the joy of being alive at this particular moment in history, and be there with you no matter what the weather.

“When the weather gets scary, we’ll have a team of experts to talk you through it. When there’s injustice happening somewhere that needs more attention, we’ll let you know about it. When there’s a project or idea that could use your help, we’ll ask you to pitch in if you want to. Our goal is to change the narrative of our shared Tomorrow. The bottom line is: The climate is changing, and it’s going to take all of us to build a better world that works for everyone.”

The service is currently available in Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas / Fort Worth, Detroit, Houston, Minneapolis, New York City, Philadelphia, Portland, Republica Dominicana, San Antonio, San Francisco, Toronto and Washington DC. More cities will continue to be added over time.

Apple’s M1 Chip Has an Unfixable Flaw, but There’s No Real Concern

Matt Milano
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Apple’s M1 Chip Has an Unfixable Flaw, but There’s No Real Concern

Apple’s new M1 chips have an unfixable vulnerability, but the developer who found it says not to worry.

The M1 chip is based on the Arm architecture, and is the continuation of the A-series chips Apple has used in the iPhone and iPad for years. Apple has been transitioning the Mac platform to the M1, and has incorporated it in the 2021 iPad Pro as well.

Developer Hector Martin has discovered a flaw in the M1 that allows two apps to secretly communicate with each other — all without the normal oversight the OS would provide.

A flaw in the design of the Apple Silicon “M1” chip allows any two applications running under an OS to covertly exchange data between them, without using memory, sockets, files, or any other normal operating system features. This works between processes running as different users and under different privilege levels, creating a covert channel for surreptitious data exchange.

To make matters worse, Martin says the bug cannot be fixed with a software update, and will require a change in the upcoming versions of the M1 and its successors.

Despite the dire-sounding nature of the bug, Martin says the actual impact is minimal. The vulnerability cannot be used to commandeer a machine, or steal private data. The only real-world danger is that a malware program could communicate with other malware on the same computer. Of course, as Martin points out, if a computer is already compromised with malware, two instances of malware communicating are probably the least of your concerns.

Really, nobody’s going to actually find a nefarious use for this flaw in practical circumstances. Besides, there are already a million side channels you can use for cooperative cross-process communication (e.g. cache stuff), on every system. Covert channels can’t leak data from uncooperative apps or systems.

Actually, that one’s worth repeating: Covert channels are completely useless unless your system is already compromised.

Xiaomi Intros 8-Minute Phone Charging

Matt Milano
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Xiaomi Intros 8-Minute Phone Charging

Xiaomi has introduced fast-charging, designed to charge a phone to 100% in 8 minutes.

Xiaomi has been improving its fast-charging technology for some time, and the latest 200W charging doesn’t disappoint, charging a 4,000mAh battery in just under 8 minutes.

For those with less than 8 minutes, the 200W charging will take a phone from 0 to 10% in 44 seconds, and 50% in 3 minutes.

Charter’s Internet Prices Vary Depending on Competition

Matt Milano
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Charter’s Internet Prices Vary Depending on Competition

Charter is charging customers different prices, depending on whether there is decent competition to worry about.

Charter is known for asking a prospective customer their address before quoting a price. Turns out, there’s a very specific reason for that. Charter charges its customers significantly more if there’s no serious competition available to them.

Stop the Cap compared pricing for two streets in the same neighborhood. On one street, where Charter Spectrum was the only option, the company charged significantly more than one street over, where a competitor offered fiber internet.

On the street where Charter had no competition, it offered three package: 200 Mbps for $50, 400 Mbps for $70 and gigabit for $110. On the street where Charter had serious competition, the company didn’t even offer the low-end 200 Mbps package. The 400 Mbps package was $30 (as opposed to $50) and the gigabit plan was $90 (as opposed to ($110).

To make matters even worse, the introductory prices only lasted 12 months on streets with no competition, as opposed to 24 months for competitive streets.

According to Stop the Cap, Charter is engaging in this behavior around the country.

Note similar pricing variability exists in Spectrum service areas around the country, with the most aggressively priced offers reserved for addresses also served by a fiber to the home provider or multiple competitors (e.g. cable company, phone company, Google Fiber or other overbuilder). Current customers typically have to cancel existing service and sign up as a new customer to get these prices.

It’s little wonder internet service providers are among the most hated companies in the US.

Facebook and WhatsApp Do About-Face on Privacy Update

Matt Milano
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Facebook and WhatsApp Do About-Face on Privacy Update

Facebook and WhatsApp appear to be doing an about-face on a controversial privacy update.

Facebook sparked a furor when it announced it would start sharing WhatsApp data with other Facebook-owned companies. Users who failed to agree to the new terms would be locked out of the app until they did agree. Many users deleted their account and switched to competing platforms, and several countries came out in opposition to the move.

In response to the backlash, Facebook initially postponed the rollout date, and then partially reversed course, saying people would not get locked out of the app. Instead, users would be persistently reminded to accept the terms, and be subjected to limited functionality until they did so.

The company now appears to be doing a complete about-face, sayingit will not keep reminding individuals or limit their functionality.

Considering the majority of users who have seen the update have accepted, we’ll continue to display a notification in WhatsApp providing more information about the update and reminding those who haven’t had a chance to do so to review and accept. We currently have no plans for these reminders to become persistent and to limit the functionality of the app.

If WhatsApp does indeed abide by this statement, score one for privacy advocates who kept pushing back.

Another Wave of DMCA Takedowns About to Hit Twitch

Matt Milano
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0
Another Wave of DMCA Takedowns About to Hit Twitch

Twitch has notified users that another wave of DMCA takedowns is about to hit, to the tune of roughly 1,000 notices.

Many Twitch users play music in the background while they’re streaming. Unfortunately, in many cases, that music is covered by copyright law. Beginning last May, Twitch started seeing a massive surge in the number of takedown requests. The first such large wave was last May, followed by another in October, with Twitch deleting the offending content.

According to an email seen by The Verge, Twitch streamers should prepare for another round.

“We recently received a batch of DMCA takedown notifications with about 1,000 individual claims from music publishers,” reads the email. “All of the claims are for VODs, and the vast majority target streamers listening to background music while playing video games or IRL streaming.”

As The Verge points out, Twitch did not initially offer very good tools to help streamers manage their content and deal with the takedowns. The company has since apologized and improved its tools.

Those improvements will hopefully help this takedown will go a bit smoother than the first two.

US Consumer Spending Continued to Grow in April

Matt Milano
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0
US Consumer Spending Continued to Grow in April

US consumer spending continued to grow in April, albeit at a slower pace, fueling optimism for a recovery.

According to the Associated Press, recent data from the Commerce Department shows consumer spending up 0.5% in April. That’s down from the 4.7% increase in March, an increase that was largely fueled by stimulus spending.

Nonetheless, a 0.5% increase indicates the economy is continuing its recovering from the pandemic recession, and provides evidence that consumer confidence is headed in the right direction.

Interestingly, individual incomes dropped a whopping 13.1% in April, but that is another data point largely caused by stimulus checks. With many Americans receiving a boost in March, a drop in April was to be expected.

Overall, the government estimates the economy grew 6.4% in the January to March quarter.

JPMorgan CEO: ‘Stay Away From Cryptocurrency’

Matt Milano
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0
JPMorgan CEO: ‘Stay Away From Cryptocurrency’

JPMorgan’s CEO isn’t likely to win friends in the crypto market, slamming it as not ‘having much value.’

Traditional financial institutions are still trying to figure out cryptocurrency. Some, such as Visa, have begun accepting crypto. Others are still trying to figure out the best way to support it.

JPMorgan’s CEO, Jamie Dimon, is cautioning investors not to invest in crypto. In a congressional hearing, Dimon didn’t mince any words regarding his thoughts on crypto.

“Put aside blockchain and put aside stable coins, which is support by assets. Something that is not supported by anything, I do not believe has much value,” the JPMorgan CEO said.

“My own personal advice to people is stay away from it,” Dimon continued. “That does not mean the clients don’t want it – this goes back to how you have to run a business. I don’t smoke marijuana, but if you make it nationally legal, I’m not gonna stop our people from banking it, etc. I don’t tell people how to spend their money, regardless of how I might personally feel about some of the items that people might buy with their money.”

Dimon then said JPMorgan is debating the best way to safely integrate crypto, but ultimately believes unsupported cryptos are dangerous.

“We’re debating should we make it available in some way, in a safe way that people can buy and sell it and put it in their statement systems,” Dimon added.

“My one personal view: It’s nothing like a fiat currency, it’s nothing like gold. Buyer beware.”

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