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The Stave-Off Edition Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Apple Set To Stave Off Daily Fines, EU To Accept App Store Changes, Sources Say, by Foo Yun Chee, Reuters

Apple's changes to its App Store rules and fees will likely secure the green light from EU antitrust regulators, people with direct knowledge of the matter said, a move that would stave off potentially hefty daily fines for the iPhone maker.

[...]

The European Commission is expected to approve the changes in the coming weeks, although the timing could still change, the people said.

Apple And Google Have 'Effective Duopoly' In UK Says Regulator, by Liv McMahon & Imran Rahman-Jones, BBC

Apple and Google may be required to change the way they operate some of their mobile services in the UK, according to proposed decisions by the UK's competition regulator.

[...]

The companies have a month to make their cases to the CMA before the decision is finalised.

If it is finalised, the companies may have to make changes to their services in a way that the regulator says promotes competition and gives more choice to consumers.

Beta 4

iOS 26 Beta 4 Reintroduces Notification Summaries For News Apps, by Juli Clover, MacRumors

Apple says that it has improved notification summaries in ‌iOS 26‌, addressing issues that could cause confusion with news headlines.

All notification summaries for News and Entertainment apps that are generated with ‌Apple Intelligence‌ will be italicized and will be annotated with a "Summarized by ‌Apple Intelligence‌" notice.

iOS 26 Beta 4 Adds More ‘Liquid’ Back To Liquid Glass Design, by Ryan Christoffel, 9to5Mac

iOS 26 beta 4 has just been released, and one of the biggest question on many testers’ minds has been answered. After dialing back its redesign in beta 3, Apple has now infused more ‘liquid’ into the Liquid Glass design once again.

Stuff

Apple To Hold “Platonic” Panel At L.A. Store Next Week, Limited Spots, by Marcus Mendes, 9to5Mac

If you’re in the Los Angeles area and a fan of the Apple TV+ comedy series Platonic, you might want to clear out a spot on your calendar for next Monday evening. Apple is hosting a special panel, with cast members and creators of the show.

This Free Mac App 'Glues' Two Desktop Windows Together, by Justin Pot, Lifehacker

This application lets you connect any two desktop windows so they remain side by side even as you move them around. If you vertically resize one, the other one will grow or shrink to match it.

The results is that the two windows basically act like one. How useful this is depends entirely on your workflow, but I can imagine all sorts of handy pairings. You could glue your to do list app to your email app, so you can keep your daily tasks top of mind. You could paste your AI application of choice to your browser, or the document you're working on. Or you could pin a Terminal to your Finder window. The point is, you can connect any two applications in a way that visually suggests they're part of the same workflow.

VSCO’s New, Free App Doesn’t Just Apply Film Presets Before You Shoot – It Mimics That Film-like Glow From An iPhone, by Hillary K. Grigonis, Digital Camera World

Mobile editing powerhouse VSCO made a name for itself with film-inspired mobile presets – but iPhone photographers no longer need to wait until after taking the shot to get the film-like look. VSCO Capture is a new iOS app that applies presets before you shoot, giving photographers manual exposure controls and even dials in the glow and halation of old film lenses.

Infuse Video Player Updated With iCloud Drive Streaming Support, More, by Chance Miller, 9to5Mac

Infuse 8.2 is now available with support for user profiles on Apple TV, the ability to stream content directly from iCloud Drive, and more.

Develop

New 64-bit Requirements For watchOS Apps, by Apple

Beginning April 2026, watchOS apps uploaded to App Store Connect must also include 64-bit support and be built with the watchOS 26 SDK. To enable 64-bit support in your project, we recommend using the default Xcode build setting of “Standard architectures” to build a single binary with 64-bit code.

Notes

Mobile Subscriptions Are Shedding Unique Indie Games In Search Of A Bigger Audience, by Ash Parrish, The Verge

Despite strong lineups of indie games, neither Netflix nor Apple could really cut through the noise, and their offerings are no longer unique. Worse still, the unique games they did have now have fewer places to go.

A Bar? A Church? China? A Stolen iPhone’s Baffling Journey Around The Globe, by Rich Schapiro, NBC News

The phone’s 8,000-mile journey around the world wasn’t even the strangest thing about the ordeal. It was the location in downtown Miami where the stolen phone appeared to have been kept for several days.

At 1:38 a.m. on Jan. 28, 10 days after it had been taken from him in Charlotte, the device first pinged from Christ Fellowship Downtown.

Michelin Mess: How Apple Maps Fumbles Location Details, by Joe Rosensteel, Six Colors

The underlying problems persist because Apple relies on these external sources rather than genuinely investing in its own internal ratings, reviews, or photo capabilities. As such, their data remains largely unhelpful.

Bottom of the Page

I am not sure if anyone is really happy with whatever is in place for Apple in the EU.

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Thanks for reading.