Plus: The tech reason why a student was rescued from Mount Fuji twice ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

May 01, 2025 | Read online
# Apple's app store defeat, no tech election and why age checks might not matter much Plus: The tech reason why a student was rescued from Mount Fuji twice
Issue 2322 - Thursday 1 May 2025
# The News
### Apple’s reign of terror over its own App Store is over
Apple’s tight grip on its App Store has been crowbarred open by a savage US court result (The Verge). In a judgement to Fortnite creator Epic Games’ lawsuit against Apple over its restrictions for app payments on Apple devices, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has ruled that Apple can’t stop developers from linking to purchases outside of an app, take a cut of any payment out-of-app or otherwise interfere with developers’ choice of buttons or decision to leave the app. What’s more, the judge blasted Apple for ignoring a previous injunction and referred Apple for criminal prosecution (WSJ, gift link)! Epic has celebrated the outcome, saying it’ll put Fortnite back on the App Store imminently after it was kicked off for using its own in-game payment system (The Verge). Apple is appealing but, geez, this is a pretty monumental decision.
### Tech has not been an election issue (and maybe that’s a good thing?)
It’s kinda hard to write about the absence of something but I really think it’s worth acknowledging that this election campaign has featured almost zero tech policy. As InnovationAus’ Joseph Brookes points out today we’ve got big policy questions about privacy, AI, automated decision-making, quantum computing, data infrastructure, tech regulation that all need to be answered (InnovationAus, $). We also had a little bit of NBN funding talk as the election started but otherwise the parties are not talking about it (The Guardian Australia) despite the fact that we’re facing problems like whether Australians are going to actually get the NBN speed increases that they’re being promised (ITNews). The counterpoint to this? I was on the Burning Platforms podcast this week where we talked about how Australia’s tech policy almost always suffers when it becomes part of a national, political contest (Podbean). So maybe we should be grateful that they’re not talking about it.
### Apps want devices to do age verification but research shows why it might not matter
We’re seeing some intra-big tech fights as Meta, Spotify and the makers of Tinder, Hinge and Bumble are lobbying the US government to make Apple and Google do age verification instead of them (Bloomberg, archived). As I’ve mentioned before, this makes way more sense to me but I can’t see Google or Apple doing it unless they’re forced to. This all might be moot — or at least less important — if the results of some new research about how people respond to age verification bears out (Ars Technica). Researchers found that after Louisiana passed an age verification law, users started searching for non-compliant websites and VPNs and stopped searching for websites doing age checks (Osf.io). Take the results with a grain of salt, but the story of the internet has always been people taking the path of least resistance to get what they want.
#### Leftovers
Cybercriminals have stolen almost 100 staff logins at the Big Four banks, experts say (ABC News) Foxtel Slashes Jobs as DAZN takes control and Hubbl’s Bubble Bursts (EFTM) Soon you can hand your credit card to AI. What could go wrong? (AFR, $) Who is H Fong, the man authorising the flurry of annoying Trumpet of Patriots text messages? (The Guardian Australia) Tesla Board Opened Search for a CEO to Succeed Elon Musk (WSJ, $) Raspberry Pi cuts product returns by 50% by changing up its pin soldering (Ars Technica) If you own Ray-Ban Meta glasses, you should double-check your privacy settings (TechCrunch) Apple sends warnings about mercenary spyware attacks on iOS (AppleInsider) The TikTok ban is back in court — in Meta’s antitrust trial (The Verge) Google Play sees 47% decline in apps since start of last year (TechCrunch) YouTube is testing blurred thumbnails for ‘mature content’ (The Verge) Someone At YouTube Needs Glasses (Jayden’s Blog) Google CEO hopeful Gemini will be integrated into Apple Intelligence in time for iPhone 17 launch (TechRadar) Microsoft Moderates A.I. Spending as Profit Increases 18% (NYT, $) Our new AI strategy puts Wikipedia’s humans first (Wikimedia Foundation) Inside the spectacular rise and crash of India’s largest EV company (Rest Of World) New York City wants subway cameras to predict ‘trouble’ before it happens (The Verge) Case dismissed – Windscribe wins landmark no-log VPN lawsuit in Greece (TechRadar)
# Oh, Also
### The tech reason why a student was rescued from Mount Fuji twice
Whom amongst us hasn’t torn apart our house or gone to other ridiculous lengths to find our phones? That’s why I cannot judge the university student who was rescued from Mount Fuji twice in a week because he went to retrieve his device that he had lost on his first ascent to nearly 10,000 feet above sea level (The Guardian). There is one part about this reporting that is disappointing: it is not yet known whether he recovered his phone.
# Bargains
Electrical & Electronics
Jackson 4-Outlet Individually Switched Powerboard with 1 Metre Lead - $11 at Woolworths SoundPEATS Clear Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds - $34.28 at ZeYuan-AU via Amazon AU Belkin SurgePlus 8 Outlet 2 USB Powerboard - $44.90 at Bunnings Meross Smart Presence Sensor with Light Sensor (Matter Compatible) - $48.99 at Shuzu-AU Amazon AU INKBIRD Auto Vacuum Sealer INK-VS01 with Starter Kit - $49.99 at INKBIRD Kindle 12th Generation 2024 at Amazon AU Paperwhite for $249 Paperwhite Signature for $279 LG C4 42 Inch OLED TV - $1188 at JB Hi Fi
Computing
UGREEN Revodok 107 USB C Hub, 7-in-1 Dock - $39.99 at UGREEN via Amazon AU Huawei watches at JB Hi-Fi / Amazon AU Band 9 for $64 FIT 3 for $179 GT 5 from $329 GT 5 Pro Titanium (Black) for $499 GL.iNet GL-MT6000 (Flint 2) AX6000 Wi-Fi 6 2.5G Router - $182 at GL.iNet via Amazon AU Biwin Black Opal X570 Pro PCI 5.0 NVMe 1TB - $196 at Centre Com Lenovo G32qc-30 31.5" QHD VA 170Hz Overclock FreeSync Curved Monitor - $236 at Centre Com Crucial RAM 96GB Kit (2×48GB) DDR5 SODIMM 5600MT/s - $303 at Amazon UK via AU Apple iPad 11" A16 Wi-Fi at Officeworks 128GB for $497 256GB for $697 Palit INFINITY 3 GeForce RTX 5070 12GB Graphics Card - $999 at Centre Com
Mobile
Apple AirPods 4 - $185 at BIG W Samsung Galaxy A53 5G 128GB (used) - $229 at MobileSkin Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 - $246 at Harvey Norman iPhone 16 and 16 Pro Max at Costco 16 128GB for $1150 16 256GB for $1350 16 512GB for $1680 16 Pro Max 256GB for $1880 16 Pro Max 512GB for $2200 Apple iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max at JB Hi-Fi $1177 at JB Hi-Fi 256GB for $1927 512GB for $2297 1TB for $2647
# The End
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