Apps & Services
Apple Charge Spotify Of Asking ‘Limitless Access’ To Its Tools Even Free Of Cost
Apple is going through a tough time as it is facing a potential $500 million fine from the European Commission for reportedly having an anti-competitive App Store policy for music streaming services.
This fine is being decided by the EU investigation following a complaint from Spotify, which began back in 2013. As per the recent reports, it appears that Apple reiterated its belief that the complaint of Spotify is about it trying to get limitless access to all the tools of Apple without even paying anything for the value Apple provides.
Although the investigation was initially prompted by a complaint against Apple from Spotify filed with EU regulators, which first surfaced back in 2013 and was formally filed four years ago, Then the EU reached its initiatory decision in 2021, in which the App Store illegally favored Apple Music over Spotify and the rest of the other music streaming platforms.
This EU ruling will only make the central point of how the anti-steering rules affect music streaming services such as Spotify, not any other category of application. The reports of a $500 million fine for Apple were initially reported a couple of days ago.
However, the decision of $500 million by the EU commission has not been officially announced yet, so probably the amount could rise or fall. In addition to a $500 million fine, it is expected that the ruling of the EU will force Apple to permit Spotify and other streaming music services to direct users to outside payment schemes. This is usually referred to as the ‘anti-steering’ rules of Apple.
Noticeably, Apple has already made notable changes to the App Store Guidelines over the years since Spotify’s complaint was filed. Apple upgraded to the “Reader” application guideline to give Spotify and the rest of the other platforms permission to link out their website for managing the account.
Apart from this, Apple also permits developers such as Spotify to communicate directly with customers through methods, such as email, to share information about payment methods outside their iOS application. Also, as a reply to the complaint, Apple took a stand for itself and argued that Spotify pays nothing other than $99 per year for a developer account to Apple, and it’s not a big deal. Apple only charges developers a commission on paid applications and digital goods as well as subscriptions. Spotify is a free application to download and does not support the Apple In-App Purchase system, so it pays nothing to Apple.
Apple also points out that Spotify is not the only one in this, as 88% of active developers on the App Store pay zero commission.
Your smart driving companion Android Auto getting a new beta update and it’s ready to download.
Google is active in upgrading the Android Auto facility since continuously it delivers new updates to offer new functionality and fix bugs as per the requirements, and now it is delivering an Android Auto Beta 12. Android Auto is a Google-designed application that helps drivers keep focused on the road by using Google Assistant to manage entertainment, calls, messages, locations, and more.
Android Auto 12 Beta update Available to Download
The new version is beta 12, and as per ritual, Google has not published an official changelog with the new features introduced. It’s quite inconvenient for users not to easily get detailed information about the new features and improvements that arrived with the update. But you can get the latest Android Auto 12 Beta update here.
Possibly even with this version, the developers have limited themselves to fixing a few bugs that were present in the previous version and were creating a kind of inconvenience to users in their seamless experience and making some minor general improvements.
A couple of days ago, Google delivered the Android Auto 11.9 stable update. Android Auto offers you dozens of facilities to make drivers’ driving experience more comfortable, as it lets you make calls using Google Assistant and answer incoming calls with just a tap, offers you updates on your route, ETA, and hazards in real-time, access your contacts folder and send and receive messages with the Google Assistant using SMS, Hangouts, and many more messaging apps, and so on.
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The Matter is an open standard platform for smart home technology that lets the device connect with any matter-certified ecosystem using a single protocol, which provides a smooth experience while using the smart home devices. Now the platform has started grabbing new updates with v1.3, and with the latest update, it has started to support more smart home devices.
Metter 1.3 brings support for ten more devices with new features
The Matter platform partner company has announced the release of the Matter 1.3 update, which will provide support for several smart kitchen appliances, electric vehicle chargers, sensors, and valves. You can check out all the smart devices listed below:
- Cooktops
- Dryers
- Electric vehicle chargers
- Extractor Hoods
- Freeze detectors
- Microwave Ovens
- Ovens
- Leak Detectors
- Rain Sensors
- Water Valves
Along with the expansion of the device support list, the latter update for software updates also brings some new features like energy tracking, which lets users track the energy usage of the device throughout the day. Secondly, it has introduced scenes, which help users do several actions in batch form. For instance, you can create a scene in which room lights turn on when you close the door.
Additionally, now the TVs that support Matter can display notifications about the progress of other home-based devices. With this functionality, Matter Cast becomes a great alternative for other systems like AirPlay and Google Cast.
Samsung should quickly bring Matter’s new version to SmartThings
Samsung has adapted the Matter functionality with its SmartThings platform, but the company hasn’t focused on bringing innovations for the devices and hasn’t brought the Matter 1.2 support, and it looks like the company may take some more time to bring the functionality for the smart things. So for the latest 1.3 updates, it looks like Samsung Galaxy device users have to wait for a couple of months.
Google Message works similarly to the stock Android messaging application until you use the RCS functionality, which allows users to send or receive messages instantly through the internet. With the RCS functionality, the application provides a similar experience to other instant messaging applications like WhatsApp. However, currently, it lacks some necessary features that provide more privacy to the user, so to make it more user-friendly, Google is working to enhance the block contact service.
According to the information, a new Google Message beta version arrived that carries a new feature that activates the functionality to block the contact and ban it from messaging in groups. For starters, currently, when you block anyone from your side, the messages of those contacts still appear in the group.
It is worth noticing that the feature is currently spotted in the beta version, which means it will take time to arrive at the stable version of the application. Generally, it takes more than a week to pass the testing phase, so it is expected that the company will make it available publicly in the next couple of weeks.
Google Messages is gradually moving forward to grab all the cool features that have already been available in the market on other platforms; however, the company has to face tough competition to grab the attention of the user, but with the leverage of control over the Android ecosystem, the search giant could take some innovative steps like integrating Gemini to beat the competition.