LTA 102: February 2022

Panel:

• Bart Busschots (host) – @bbusschots
• Rod Simmons from the SMR Podcast – @rodsimmons

The show starts with the usual followups and updates on long-running stories. That’s followed by one notable number, some some Apple-related legal news, a little Apple HR & acquisitions news, and some highlights from Apple’s original content and subscription services. The three main stories are updated safety protections for AirPods, the effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the Apple world, and a preview of Apple’s annual shareholder meeting. The show ends with a quick rundown of some smaller Apple-related stories that made the news in February.

You’ll find detailed show notes below the fold, and if you enjoy this free show, please consider clicking on the donate button at the top of the left side bar – the show is free for you to listen to, but not for Bart to Produce!

Updates & Followup

Quick updates to long-running stories the show continues to track, and to stories covered in recent shows.

• The dust continues to settle on App Tracking Transparency (ATT):
  • Facebook says iOS privacy changes will cost $10 billion, shares plunge — www.imore.com/…
    • Related Opinion: Facebook Accuses Apple of ‘Browser Carve-Out’ on Tracking Prompts, Hoping No One Will Remember That Safari Is Heavily Biased Toward Privacy — daringfireball.net/…
  • Snapchat shares rocket 50% as company touts iOS privacy change recovery — www.imore.com/…
  • Twitter profit falls but company dodges impact of iOS 14 privacy changes — www.imore.com/…
• Pressure continues on Apple (& Google’s) App Stores:
  • 🇰🇷 South Korea still not happy with Apple’s plan to comply with App Store laws — www.imore.com/…
  • 🇳🇱 The Dutch dating apps story continues to unfold:
    • 27%: Apple reveals commission rate for alternative App Store payments in Netherlands — www.imore.com/…
    • 8 Feb: Apple fined again over Dutch App Store issues — www.imore.com/…
    • 14 Feb: Dutch authorities have fined Apple another €5 million over third-party App Store payments — www.imore.com/…
    • 21 Feb: Apple racks up its fifth $5.7m file as Dutch consumer watchdog digs in — www.imore.com/…
    • 28 February: Apple argues it’s complied with Dutch watchdog App Store requirements in a new letter — www.imore.com/… & Apple hit with its sixth $5.7m App Store fine as Dutch watchdog says nothing’s changed — www.imore.com/…
    • 🇪🇺 Related: EU Chief slams Apple for choosing fines over compliance — www.imore.com/… (EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager)
    • Related Analysis: Going Dutch — daringfireball.net/…
    • Related: A Dutch foundation lead by Alexander Klopping, a tech journalist and entrepreneur, is mounting a legal challenge against Apple & Google, claiming their monopolies on app stores have host Dutch citizens a €1Bn in excessive fees — www.macobserver.com/…
  • Related: Microsoft pressures Apple with new Open App Store principles, but some don’t apply to Xbox — www.imore.com/…
    • Opinion: Microsoft’s ‘Principled Approach to App Stores’ That Doesn’t Apply to Xbox — daringfireball.net/…
  • Related: App Store developers can now transfer apps and still be part of the Small Business Program — www.imore.com/…

Notable Numbers

• Health insurance company says people with Apple Watches move 51% more — www.imore.com/… (🇦🇺 The report is from insurer AIA Australia)

Legal Latest

• 🇺🇸 Ericsson -v- Apple: the US case will go to trial in June 2023 — www.imore.com/…
• 🇺🇸 CalTech + Broadcom -v- Apple: a US federal appeals court has invalidated the $1.1Bn jury verdict against Apple over WiFi patents from January 2020 because the damages awarded were not justified. The judge has ordered a new trial — www.imore.com/…
• 🇺🇸 Apple sued by SpaceTime3D over three-dimensional screen display — www.imore.com/… (unusually, this is a suite from a real software company, not a non-practicing entity)
• 🇺🇸 Apple to face class action suit over claims it misled shareholders — www.imore.com/…
  • The case relates to statements by Tim Cook in the earnings call before Apple were forced to issue a profit warning which knocked 8% off the share price in January 2019 — www.wired.co.uk/….
  • 🇬🇧 The suit is filed in the US, but lead by Norfolk County Council from the UK

Apple HR & Acquisition News

• Apple has bought AI Music, a UK company that have developed AI software that takes in royalty-free music and generates custom music that changes in response to some input — www.imore.com/…
• Apple is improving employee benefits to try to attract and retain workers — www.imore.com/… (improved sick pay arrangements, and vacation days for part-time workers)
• 🇺🇸 Apple Store employees in the United States are getting a raise — www.imore.com/…
• 🇺🇸 Apple Store Workers Want to Unionize to Fight for Higher Wages — www.macobserver.com/…

Apple Services & Original Content Highlights

• Apple Music:
  • Apple Music Free Trial Now Just One Month — www.macobserver.com/…
  • Kanye West Will Not Make “Donda 2” Available on “Opressive” Platforms Like Apple Music — www.macobserver.com/…
    • Kanye West reveals he turned down $100M Apple Music deal, confirms official beef with company — www.imore.com/…
  • The Beatles album ‘1’ gets the spatial audio treatment for Apple Music — www.imore.com/…
• AppleTV+:
  • 2022 Oscars: Apple scoops six nominations including best picture — www.imore.com/…
    • CODA: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Troy Kotsur), & Best Adapted Screenplay (Siân Heder)
    • The Tragedy of Macbeth: Best Lead Actor (Denzel Washington), Best Cinematography (Bruno Delbonnel) & Best Production Design
    • Related: Apple TV+ hit ‘CODA’ is coming back to cinemas and it’ll be free for all — www.imore.com/…
  • Apple Originals Won 4 SAG Awards With CODA, Ted Lasso — www.macobserver.com/…
    • CODA: Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture & Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role (Troy Kotsur)
    • Ted Lasso: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series & Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series (Jason Sudeikis)
  • Apple TV+ podcast ‘The Line’ wins duPont-Columbia Award — www.imore.com/…
  • Apple TV+ thriller ‘Severance’ sneaks into streaming’s top 10 on debut — www.imore.com/…
• Apple Books launches new book club with George Stroumboulopoulos — www.imore.com/…
• 🇨🇦 Apple News launches local news coverage in Canada — www.imore.com/…

Main Stories

1. More AirTag Developments:
   • Apple released details of improvements they plan to make to their AirTag protections — www.macobserver.com/…
     • Near term changes:
       • New privacy warnings during AirTag setup (for tracking your stuff not other people, Apple will help the police etc.)
       • Improved messages when a tracker that’s not yours is detected moving with you (unknown item to be replaced with useful description like AirPods when the device is not an AirTag)
       • Updates to support docs
     • Longer term changs:
       • Add the ability to use precision finding on trackers that trigger an alert.
       • Phones will display an alert when the device emits a warning sound.
       • Continued tweaks to the algorithms.
       • Tweaks to the sound so it’s easier to hear
     • Apple’s press release: An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking — www.apple.com/…
   • Latest beta of iOS 15.4 includes anti-stalking changes for AirTag — www.imore.com/…
   • 🇺🇸 Related: New York Attorney General Warns of Malicious AirTag Tracking — www.macobserver.com/…
   • Related: Tests by NYT reporter Kashmir Hill illustrate how other trackers are ‘way worse’ than AirTags wen it comes to stalking protections — www.imore.com/…
   • Related: Apple AirTag anti-stalking protection bypassed by researchers — nakedsecurity.sophos.com/…
     • The original research: Find You: Building a stealth AirTag clone — positive.security/…
2. 🇺🇦 🇷🇺 The effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the Apple universe:
   • Apple to support local humanitarian efforts in response to Ukraine invasion — www.imore.com/…
   • 🇷🇺 Apple Stops Apple Pay Transactions in Russia — www.macobserver.com/…
   • 🇺🇦 Ukraine requests that Apple stop product sales and access to the App Store in Russia — www.imore.com/…
   • 🇷🇺 Apple stops selling iPhones, iPads, Macs, and other products in Russia — www.imore.com/… & Apple responds to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, pulls RT & Sputnik apps and disables Apple Maps features in Ukraine — www.imore.com/…
   • Read Tim Cook’s email to employees on Ukraine — www.theverge.com/…
   • 🇷🇺 Apple product prices skyrocket in Russia as resellers battle sanctions — www.imore.com/…
   • 🇷🇺 Russia’s biggest Apple premium reseller closes stores — www.imore.com/… & Apple premium reseller reopens in Russia ahead of March Apple event, prices up 50% — www.imore.com/… (the reseller is re:Store)
   • 🇺🇦 Apple Maps Now Includes Crimea as Ukraine Outside of Russia — www.macobserver.com/…
   • Related Analysis: Russian Invasion of Ukraine Impacts Apple World — tidbits.com/…
     • Ukraine is home to major Apple developers including MacPaw (Setapp, Clean My Mac X, Gemini, and more), BeLight Software (Live Home 3D, Swift Publisher, and more), Readdle (PDF Expert, Spark, and more) & CS Odessa (ConceptDraw).
     • Readdle, the Ukrainian developer of productivity apps, reassures customers service is unaffected amidst Russian attack — www.imore.com/… & Readdle removes apps from Russian App Store, pledges support for Ukraine — www.imore.com/…
     • MacPaw vows user support will continue as war breaks out in Ukraine — www.cultofmac.com/…
     • Ukrainian Mac App Developer Asks for Help for Ukraine — www.macobserver.com/… (Eugene Krupnov, developer of Mac app Unclutter)
3. Preview of Apple’s up-coming share holders meeting (March 4th):
   • Inspired by the #AppleToo movement there will be a shareholder motion voted on to require “that the Board of Directors prepare a public report assessing the potential risks to the company associated with its use of concealment clauses in the context of harassment, discrimination and other unlawful acts”
     • 🇺🇸 Related: 8 US state treasurers are accusing Apple of abusing NDAs to silence workers about discrimination within the company, and are asking the SEC to take a more active role, and to expand protections to all workers, not just those in CA where the recently passed Silenced No More Act outlaws the use of NDAs to conceal workplace discrimination and other illegal activity (About the act: ‘Silenced No More Act’ becomes law in California, crippling NDAs — www.marketwatch.com/…)
     • Related: Former Apple employee and #AppleToo member Cher Scarlett alleges that Apple’s “bizarre if not unique” (according to a HR expert) process of changing all former employee job titles to ‘Associate’ in a DB the HR industry use to vet job applicants cost her a new job — www.imore.com/…
   • Shareholders urge Apple to adopt revised transparency reports for App removals — www.imore.com/…
   • Shareholder group raises ‘significant concern’ over Tim Cook’s pay — www.imore.com/… & 🇳🇴 Norway’s sovereign wealth fund to vote down Apple executive pay — www.imore.com/…

Quick Stories

• Apple Launches Entrepreneur Camp for Latin Founders — www.macobserver.com/…
• Apple announces iPhones will soon accept Tap to Pay payments using Apple Pay and contactless — www.imore.com/…
  • 🇺🇸 Stripe rolling out beta program to support Apple’s new Tap to Pay feature — www.imore.com/…
• Apple gives Siri a less gendered voice — www.axios.com/… (in the betas for iOS 15.4)
• Beats and the NBA announce 75th anniversary Powerbeats Pro — www.imore.com/…
  • Related: AirPods and Beats make up half of the U.S. headphone market — www.imore.com/… (based on Statista numbers)
• Apple removed 12 suppliers from chain over responsible mineral sourcing in 2021 — www.imore.com/…
• 🇸🇦 Apple opens first all-female Developer Academy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — www.imore.com/…
• Apple Support App Now Offers Some Repair Estimates — tidbits.com/…
• Apple to offer Face ID repairs on iPhone without swapping whole device — www.imore.com/…
• 📌 “Peek performance”: Apple’s next hardware event happens on March 8 — arstechnica.com

Legend

Note: When the textual description of a link is part of the link it is the title of the page being linked to, when the text describing a link is not part of the link it is a description written by Bart.