Apple Removes RSS Feed Readers From Chinese App Store

Apple has reportedly removed two RSS feed reader apps from China's App Store to comply with Chinese law. Fiery Feeds and Reeder both tweeted that their iOS apps had been removed in China over content that is considered "illegal" in the country.

Same here. Reeder 4 (iOS) was also removed from the Chinese ‌App Store‌. https://t.co/95aXs4MaEh

— Reeder (@reederapp) September 29, 2020

Fiery Feeds quoted a three-year-old tweet from Inoreader, a similar RRS service that was banned from Apple's Chinese ‌App Store‌ back in 2017 and had its entire service blocked in the country in April. Apple's original message to Inoreader read:

We are writing to notify you that your application will be removed from the China ‌App Store‌ because it includes content that it illegal in China, which is not in compliance with the ‌App Store‌ Review Guidelines:

5. Legal
Apps must comply with all legal requirements in any location where you make them available (if you're not sure, check with a lawyer). We know this stuff is complicated, but it is your responsibility to understand and make sure your app conforms with all local laws, not just the guidelines below. And of course, apps that solicit, promote, or encourage criminal or clearly reckless behavior will be rejected.

It's not clear why Apple waited until now to block the additional feed readers, but the fact that it pulled these apps at all suggests RSS readers can sometimes circumvent China's Great Firewall and pull in content from third-party websites that are otherwise on its blocked list.

Apple has faced increasing pressure from investors and human rights activists about its relationship with China and its tendency to comply with Beijing's demands. Last year, for example, Apple removed the app of news outlet Quartz from China's ‌‌‌App Store‌‌‌ after complaints from the government that it included content that is illegal in the country. The app was covering the Hong Kong Umbrella Movement protests at the time.

Apple has also been forced to remove many VPN apps from the ‌‌‌App Store‌‌‌ in China due to the administration's regulations. Other apps affected in the past include WhatsApp, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, and the New York Times app.

Earlier this month, Apple published a human rights policy document that commits to "freedom of information and expression," following years of criticism from investors that it shows too much deference to Beijing and accedes to China's censorship demands.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tags: App Store, China

This article, "Apple Removes RSS Feed Readers From Chinese App Store" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

from MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - All Stories https://ift.tt/3n46Fch

Twitter Expands Rollout of Voice Tweets Feature for iOS Users

Twitter says it's making its voice tweets feature available to more users on iOS. Launched in June for a limited number of users, voice tweets is designed to allow people to tweet with their voice, sending voice-based messages instead of text.


Voice tweets can be created by opening up the tweet composer and tapping the new wavelengths icon. A screen then opens with a user's Twitter icon, which can be tapped to begin a recording.

Twitter users can capture up to 140 seconds of audio, but continuous recording is possible and longer audio will create multiple voice tweets.

Listening to a voice tweet can be done by tapping on the image in the Twitter timeline. On iOS, playback starts in an audio player that's docked at the bottom of the timeline so users can continue to scroll through Twitter.

Transcription for audio and video is part of our larger plan to make Twitter accessible for everyone across all features, both existing and new.https://t.co/c9LTPiE003 (2/2)

— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) September 29, 2020

Since their arrival on iOS, voice tweets have been criticized for lacking accessibility in the form of audio transcriptions. That criticism led Twitter employees to reveal they'd been asked to volunteer their time on top of their usual work to focus on accessibility.

The ensuing flak led Twitter to tell The Verge that it was exploring how to build a "more dedicated group" to focus on accessibility, and the company has since announced new two teams in that vein. Twitter subsequently said it plans to add automated captions to audio and video on the platform by "early 2021."

Tags: Twitter, accessibility

This article, "Twitter Expands Rollout of Voice Tweets Feature for iOS Users" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

from MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - All Stories https://ift.tt/2GjmBGO

Apple Officially Retires Beats Updater Utility in Favor of Over-the-Air Firmware Updates

Apple has officially retired Beats Updater, the software utility that lets users update the firmware of their Beats Wireless headphones, earphones, and speakers.


Beats Updater allows users to plug their Beats product directly into the USB port of their computer to check for firmware updates online, but with Apple's growing tendency to deliver over-the-air updates to wireless products via iOS and iPadOS, the company clearly feels the utility has reached the end of its life.

Beats Updater is still available to download for use with the following products, but Apple says no new versions will be available in future.

• Beats Solo2 Wireless


• Beats Studio Wireless


• Powerbeats 2 Wireless


• Beats Pill 2.0


• Powerbeats


• Powerbeats Pro

• Powerbeats3 Wireless


• Solo Pro


• Beats Solo3 Wireless


• Beats Studio3 Wireless


• BeatsX

If you have one of the Beats headphones or earphones listed below, pairing them with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch will update them automatically. If you have an Android device, download the Beats app for Android from the Google Play store to update your firmware.

• Powerbeats


• ‌Powerbeats Pro‌


• Powerbeats3 Wireless


• Solo Pro

• Beats Solo3 Wireless


• Beats Studio3 Wireless


• BeatsX

Apple recently released over-the-air firmware updates for AirPods (second generation), AirPods Pro, Powerbeats, ‌Powerbeats Pro‌, and Solo Pro. The new firmware adds automatic switching support to these models and requires iOS 14, iPadOS 14, macOS Big Sur, or later. In addition to automatic switching, ‌AirPods Pro‌ also gained a new spatial audio feature.

Tag: Beats

This article, "Apple Officially Retires Beats Updater Utility in Favor of Over-the-Air Firmware Updates" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

from MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - All Stories https://ift.tt/30jZBP2

Apple Music, Apple TV+, App Store, Apple Arcade and Other iCloud Services Experiencing Issues

Several of Apple's services appear to be experiencing issues, with MacRumors readers reporting problems with Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple News+, the App Store, and more.


When attempting to access ‌Apple Music‌ or ‌Apple TV‌+, for example, the services refuse to load for some people and pop up a connection warning.

Apple's System Status page lists ‌App Store‌, Apple Arcade, ‌Apple Music‌, ‌Apple TV‌+, Radio, Apple Books, Find My, Game Center, iCloud Account, ‌iCloud‌ backup, ‌iCloud‌ Calendar, ‌iCloud‌ Contacts, Photos, ‌iCloud‌ Mail, and iWork outages.

We'll update this article when Apple's services come back online.
This article, "Apple Music, Apple TV+, App Store, Apple Arcade and Other iCloud Services Experiencing Issues" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

from MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - All Stories https://ift.tt/34cJhAv

Fortnite Dispute Between Apple and Epic Games Won't Have Jury Trial

Apple and Epic Games do not want to have a jury trial in their ongoing legal dispute over Fortnite and Apple's App Store policies, according to a filing submitted to the Northern California court handling the case today.


The two companies said they have met and have agreed that both Epic's claims and Apple's counterclaims should be tried by the court with a bench trial at a date to be determined.

Epic and Apple have met and conferred, and the parties agree that Epic's claims and Apple's counterclaims should be tried by the Court, and not by a jury. Therefore, with Epic's consent, Apple hereby withdraws its demand for a jury trial pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 38(d). The parties respectfully request that the case (including any claims and counterclaims) proceed to a bench trial on a schedule determined by the Court.

In a counterclaim against ‌Epic Games‌, Apple had originally asked for a trial by jury, but given that the judge overseeing the court told the two companies that she does not want to try two separate cases, Apple has withdrawn the request.

There was a preliminary injunction hearing between ‌Epic Games‌ and Apple earlier this week, and during that hearing, the judge suggested that a jury trial might be appropriate to ensure a final judgement that's better able to stand up to appeal, but Apple and ‌Epic Games‌ have declined.

During the preliminary hearing, the judge was hard on ‌Epic Games‌, criticizing the company for the way that it initiated the lawsuit. ‌Epic Games‌ in August added a direct payment option in popular iOS game Fortnite, breaking Apple's ‌App Store‌ rules as the payment option skirted in-app purchases.

Apple then pulled the app from the App Store, and ‌Epic Games‌ filed a pre-prepared lawsuit against Apple, leading to a legal dispute that could take years to resolve. At the current time, Fortnite is not available on Apple devices and Epic's developer account has been terminated.

During Monday's hearing, the judge said that Epic was "not forthright" and had made a "calculated decision" to defy Apple's ‌App Store‌ rules. "There are people in the public who consider you guys heroes for what you did, but it's not honest," she said.

With Apple and Epic declining a jury trial, the case could be heard sometime in July 2021, with a specific date set to be determined by the court.

Tags: lawsuit, Epic Games, Fortnite, Epic Games vs. Apple

This article, "Fortnite Dispute Between Apple and Epic Games Won't Have Jury Trial" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

from MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - All Stories https://ift.tt/33cFxzO