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Tech News
Phil Schiller is relinquishing his roles overseeing the App Store and Apple's product events, according to Bloomberg. He will retain his Apple Fellow title and continue working on unspecified projects, while the App Store division moves under services chief Eddy Cue, with Carson Oliver remaining in charge of daily store operations.
Security firm Socket uncovered a campaign, active since early 2024, in which 16 malware modules were pushed through browser extensions on the Chrome Web Store and Microsoft Edge add-ons store. Five extensions were initially legitimate but were bought from their original developers and later turned malicious via automatic updates, including one tool with roughly 70,000 Chrome users and 10,000 Edge users. Once activated, the extensions connected to remote servers to strip website security headers, inject phishing scripts, and drain cryptocurrency wallets on platforms like Coinbase, Binance, Kraken and MetaMask.
Laytr is a new iPhone app that lets users save links, screenshots, and other content via the native share sheet, then organize them into Now, Timeline, and Library tabs for later reference. Unlike most bookmarking tools, it stores everything locally on-device with no accounts or iCloud syncing involved.
A recent Apple Vision Pro adopter shares that the headset's standout use case is watching movies and TV shows while lying down, echoing comments Tim Cook has made about his own viewing habits. The writer notes that while Vision Pro's broader software experience—like multitasking and typing—remains clunky, its content consumption strength, particularly for reclined viewing, is what keeps the device relevant despite its bulk.
TurboKV is a newly released open-source embedded key-value database written in Rust, designed for asynchronous use with Tokio. It supports atomic write batches, ordered range and prefix scans, configurable durability levels, compression, and background compaction, and can be added to a project via Cargo.
Google has reduced trade-in credits offered toward Pixel 11 series purchases, ending the launch-window bonuses it previously offered. The Pixel 10 Pro Fold saw the steepest cut, dropping from $1,000 to $850, while most other recent Pixel models lost $50 or less in trade value. Google says these new lower rates will remain in effect through September.
Five Guys' latest franchise disclosure document shows the burger chain shut down 31 restaurants across multiple U.S. states last year, even as it continued adding new locations to its overall footprint. The filing details where these closures occurred as part of the company's routine reporting on its store network.
Apple announced App Store tax updates taking effect immediately in Morocco, the Republic of the Congo, and Tanzania, reflecting new or increased VAT and digital sales taxes. Starting September 14, Apple will also update app and in-app purchase prices in Israel, Indonesia, Morocco, and the Republic of the Congo for developers who haven't set those regions as their base storefront.
Pixel 10 owners attempting to trade in their phones for the new Pixel 11 on the Google Store are reporting broken trade-in workflows, according to complaints on Reddit's Pixel community. Users describe receiving conflicting confirmations about whether their trade-in was accepted, only to have their cards charged the full price anyway, with Google reportedly unable to retroactively apply the promised credit.
A ZDNET piece revisits how Apple built its tightly controlled App Store ecosystem after CEO Tim Cook's 2014 jab at Android as a 'toxic hellstew of vulnerabilities.' The article argues that a decade later, the competitive and regulatory battles have shifted from app-store control to AI, with Apple's new Siri raising fresh concerns.
Google published a memo detailing enforcement of new per-app memory limits introduced with Android 17, first rolling out on Pixel devices. Apps that exceed the thresholds will be slowed down or terminated, and starting in February 2027, non-compliant apps could face reduced visibility and publishing restrictions on the Play Store.
A longtime Apple user dug up his original 2011 iPhone 4 and found it still powers on using its old 30-pin dock connector, but its outdated hardware and software make it functionally useless today. The device runs only on 3G networks, has an 8GB capacity and slow A8 chip, and can no longer access iCloud, Safari or most apps due to modern security requirements. He concludes the phone's best remaining role is as a basic iPod, with recycling as the more practical option.