Facebook is continuing its campaign against Apple’s iOS 14 privacy updates, adding a notice within its iOS app telling users the information it collects from other apps and websites can “help keep Facebook free of charge.” A similar message was seen on Instagram’s iOS app (Facebook is Instagram’s parent company). Technology researcher Ashkan Soltani first noted the new pop-up notices on Saturday. They appear as part of an explanation of the updates to iOS 14 rules.
“This version of iOS requires us to ask for permission to track some data from this devices to improve your ads. Learn how we limit the use of this information if you don’t turn on this device setting,” the pop-up screen reads. “We use information about your activity received form other apps and websites to: show you ads that are more personalized, help keep Facebook free of charge [and] support businesses that rely on ads to reach their customers.” (I wasn’t able to get this nag screen to show up on my iPhone which is running iOS 14.5).
The new opt-in requirements in the latest versions of iOS 14, including iOS 14.5, require developers to get express consent from device owners to allow their Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) to be shared and collected across apps. Under Apple’s new policy, app developers are still able to use other information a user provides for targeted advertising, even if the user opts out of letting the app track them, but that information can’t be shared with another company for ad tracking.
If developers try to get around the opt-in requirement, or try to replace the IDFA with another piece of identifying information such as an email address, that app will be considered in violation of the opt-in requirement. The rules also apply to Apple’s own apps.
Facebook has been a vocal critic of Apple’s iOS 14 privacy updates, arguing that the privacy changes could hurt small businesses which may rely on Facebook’s ad network to reach customers. In statements to the press and in newspaper ads, Facebook has said Apple is encouraging new business models for apps so they rely less on advertising and more on subscriptions, which would potentially give Apple a cut.
But the “keep Facebook/Instagram free” tactic seems to run counter to Facebook’s long-standing tagline which indicated the company was “free and always will be.” Of course, Facebook quietly removed that slogan from its homepage in 2019, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg didn’t rule out a paid version of Facebook when he testified before Congress in 2018. “There will always be a version of Facebook that is free,” he said.
Facebook didn’t reply to a request for comment Sunday. But Zuckerberg called Apple out during Facebook’s January earnings call, referring to Apple as one of his company’s biggest competitors. “Apple has every incentive to use their dominant platform position to interfere with how our apps and other apps work, which they regularly do to preference their own,” Zuckerberg said. “This impacts the growth of millions of businesses around the world, including with the upcoming iOS 14 changes.”
Apple didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment Sunday.
Just two days before Apple gets dragged into a California court to justify its 30 percent App Store fee — and two days after Microsoft axed its 30 percent cut on PC — we’re learning that gaming giant Valve is now facing down lawsuits against its own 30 percent cut and alleged anticompetitive practices with its PC gaming platform Steam.
“Valve abuses its market power to ensure game publishers have no choice but to sell most of their games through the Steam Store, where they are subject to Valve’s 30% toll,” argues indie game developer and Humble Bundle creator Wolfire Games, in a lawsuit filed Tuesday (via Ars Technica).
Much like Epic v. Apple, the new suit argues that a platform owner is using an effective monopoly over the place where people run their software (there, iOS; here, Steam) to dominate and tax an entire separate industry (alternative app / game stores), an industry that could theoretically flourish and produce lower prices for consumers if not for (Apple’s / Valve’s) iron grip.
Wolfire claims that Valve now controls “approximately 75 percent” of the entire PC gaming market, reaping an estimated $6 billion in annual revenue as a result from that 30 percent fee alone — over $15 million per year per Valve employee, assuming the company still has somewhere in the vicinity of the 360 employees it confirmed having five years ago.
As to how Valve might be abusing its power, there’s a laundry list of complaints that you might want to read in full (which is why I’ve embedded the complaint below), but the arguments seem to boil down to:
Every other company’s attempt to compete with Steam has failed to make a dent, even though many of them offered developers a bigger cut of the profits, such as the Epic Game Store’s 88-percent revenue share
Steam doesn’t allow publishers to sell PC games and game keys for less money elsewhere
That in turn means rival game platforms can’t compete on price, which keeps them from getting a foothold
Most of those rival game stores have largely given up, like how EA and Microsoft have each brought their games back to Steam
That ensures Steam stays the dominant platform, because companies that could have become competitors are reduced to simply feeding the Steam engine with their games or selling Steam keys
Wolfire says that the Humble Bundle in particular has been a victim of Valve’s practices — the lawsuit claims that “publishers became more and more reluctant to participate in Humble Bundle events, decreasing the quantity and quality of products available to Humble Bundle customers,” because they feared retaliation if Humble Bundle buyers resold their Steam keys on the grey market for cheap — and though Valve once worked with Humble Bundle on a keyless direct integration, the lawsuit claims that Valve abruptly pulled the plug on that partnership with no explanation.
As you’d expect, the lawsuit doesn’t waste much ink considering why gamers might prefer Steam to the likes of EA’s Origin or Microsoft’s Windows Store beyond the simple matter of price; I’d argue most Steam competitors have been somewhat deficient when it comes to addressing PC gamers’ many wants and needs. But that doesn’t excuse Valve’s anticompetitive practices, assuming these claims are true.
Valve didn’t respond to a request for comment.
This isn’t the first lawsuit brought against Valve; a group of individual game buyers filed a fairly similar complaint in January, and I’ve embedded the new amended version of that complaint below as well. But that earlier complaint also accused game companies alongside Valve — this new one lawsuit is by a game company itself.
Each suit is hoping to win class-action status.
Whether these plaintiffs succeed against Valve or no, the pressure is clearly mounting to reduce these app store fees across the industry, and Valve may have a harder time justifying them than most — it’s seemingly more dominant in the PC gaming space than either Apple or Google are in the smartphone one, even if there are far fewer PC gamers than phone users.
Valve also hasn’t necessarily made a huge concession to game developers so far. In 2018, Valve did adjust its revenue split to give bigger companies more money, reducing its 30 percent cut to 25 percent after a developer racks up $10 million in sales, and down to 20 percent after they hit $50 million. (Apple and Google drop their cuts to 15 percent for developers with under $1 million in sales, theoretically helping smaller developers instead of bigger ones.) But the Epic Games Store only takes 12 percent, and Microsoft’s Windows Store just copied that lead by dropping its 30 percent cut to 12 percent as well.
The EU may also add additional pressure in the future; yesterday, European Commission executive vice president Margrethe Vestager revealed it would also “take an interest in the gaming app market” following its conclusion that Apple has broken EU antitrust laws around music streaming apps. The European Commission already has Valve on its radar, too; it fined the company earlier this year for geo-blocking game sales.
An expert witness for Epic Games testified that Apple’s App Store had operating margins above 70 percent in fiscal years 2018 and 2019, new court documents show. Eric Barnes testified that information from Apple’s Corporate Financial Planning and Analysis group show the App Store had a 77.8 percent operating margin in 2019, and 74.9 percent in 2018.
The figures are close to Barnes’ calculations of the App Store’s profits, he testified, and “also refute criticisms of my report proffered by certain Apple expert witnesses that it is not possible to calculate reliably or usefully the operating margins of the App Store.” Barnes also testified that Apple has been tracking its App Store profits for several years.
Apple has hotly contested that interpretation of the data. As Bloomberg notes, Apple’s chief compliance officer said at a congressional hearing last month that “we don’t have a separate profit and loss statement for the App Store,” and that Cook has made similar statements about the App Store and how it’s structured.
An Apple spokesperson said in an email to The Verge on Saturday that Barnes’ figures were incorrect: “Epic’s experts calculations of the operating margins for the App Store are simply wrong and we look forward to refuting them in court.”
The question of how much profit Apple makes from the app store is at the center of the ongoing court case between Apple and Epic Games. Epic argues that the App Store provides no real service, but simply serves as a way for Apple to extract money from developers. Epic is suing Apple for antitrust violations on those grounds, after launching an unauthorized in-app payments system for Fortnite earlier this year. But Apple insists the App Store review process is a pivotal part of the broader platform safety efforts around iOS.
Court documents show Apple’s expert witness Richard Schmalensee also disputed Barnes/Epic’s figures. “Mr. Barnes’ estimate of the App Store’s operating margin is unreliable because it looks in isolation at one segment of the iOS ecosystem in a way that artificially boosts the apparent operating margin of that segment,” Schmalensee said in his written direct testimony. “When one looks at Apple’s device and services ecosystem as a whole, the operating margin falls to an unremarkable level.”
Schmalensee further testified that “it makes no sense” to try to measure the App Store’s profitability in isolation since it’s part of the iOS platform and relies on all of Apple’s intellectual property. “As top Apple executives will testify, Apple does not calculate P&Ls by products and services because they view it as an unproductive exercise,” according to Schmalensee.
Court proceedings for the trial are due to begin on Monday.
After a controversial blog post in which CEO Jason Fried outlined Basecamp’s new philosophy that prohibited, among other things, “societal and political discussions” on internal forums, company co-founder David Heinemeier Hansson said the company would offer generous severance packages to anyone who disagreed with the new stance. On Friday, it appears a large number of Basecamp employees are taking Hansson up on his offer: according to TheVerge contributing editor Casey Newton’s sources, roughly a third of the company’s 57 employees accepted buyouts today. As of Friday afternoon, 18 people had tweeted they were planning to leave.
Not long after Fried’s Monday blog post went public — and was revised several times amid public backlash online — Hansson outlined the terms of the new severance offer in a separate Wednesday blog post.
Yesterday, we offered everyone at Basecamp an option of a severance package worth up to six months salary for those who’ve been with the company over three years, and three months salary for those at the company less than that. No hard feelings, no questions asked. For those who cannot see a future at Basecamp under this new direction, we’ll help them in every which way we can to land somewhere else.
Among those who announced on Twitter they’re leaving the company are reportedly head of marketing Andy Didorosi, head of design Jonas Downey, and head of customer support Kristin Aardsma. Most cited “recent changes” at the company as their reason for leaving.
“Given the recent changes at Basecamp, I’ve decided to leave my job as Head of Design,” Downey tweeted. “I’ve helped design & build all of our products since 2011, and recently I’ve been leading our design team too.”
I resigned today from my role as Head of Marketing at Basecamp due to recent changes and new policies.
I’ll be returning to entrepreneurship. My DMs are open if you’d like to talk or you can reach me at andy@detroitindie.com
— Andy Didorosi (@ThatDetroitAndy) April 30, 2021
I’ve resigned as Head of Customer Support at Basecamp. I’m four months pregnant, so I’m going to take some time off to build this baby and hang out with my brilliant spouse and child.
— Kristin Aardsma (@kikiaards) April 30, 2021
I have left Basecamp due to the recent changes & policies.
I’ve been doing product design there for 7yrs. The last 3yrs I led the iOS team working alongside @dylanginsburg and @zachwaugh — they are the best .
If you need a product designer, please DM or email me: hi@conor.cc
— Conor Muirhead (@conormuirhead) April 30, 2021
After nearly 8 years, given the recent changes at Basecamp, I’ve decided to leave my job as an Android programmer there. Will eventually be looking for something new, so please feel free to reach out / RT. DMs open.
Thank you all for your support and kindness. It means a lot. ❤️
— Dan Kim (@dankim) April 30, 2021
Software developer John Breen is tracking additional Basecamp departures in this Twitter thread.
The original blog post that started the brouhaha at the tiny company with an outsized voice also detailed how Basecamp would do away with “paternalistic benefits,” committees, and would prohibit “lingering or dwelling on past decisions.” But it was the “societal and political discussions” item that stirred up the most reaction:
Today’s social and political waters are especially choppy. Sensitivities are at 11, and every discussion remotely related to politics, advocacy, or society at large quickly spins away from pleasant. You shouldn’t have to wonder if staying out of it means you’re complicit, or wading into it means you’re a target. These are difficult enough waters to navigate in life, but significantly more so at work. It’s become too much. It’s a major distraction. It saps our energy, and redirects our dialog towards dark places. It’s not healthy, it hasn’t served us well. And we’re done with it on our company Basecamp account where the work happens. People can take the conversations with willing co-workers to Signal, Whatsapp, or even a personal Basecamp account, but it can’t happen where the work happens anymore
While the company argued that it was just trying to get its own employees focused on work, company founders don’t tend to shy away from “societal and political discussions” online, with Hansson in particular having become a vocal critic of Apple’s App Store policies, to the point that he has testified in favor of antitrust regulation.
As The Verge later reported, the initial motivation for the letter stemmed from internal disagreement over a controversial list of “funny names” of Basecamp customers. Several of the names on the list, which resurfaced several times over the years and of which management was well aware, were of Asian or African origin. Employees considered their inclusion inappropriate at best, and racist at worst.
Hansson acknowledged the list and tried to move on (you can read his internal communications here), but employees pressed the issue.
Hansson did not reply to a request for comment from The Verge on Friday.
Since its launch in 2015, Apple Music garnered 72 million subscribers by the end of 2020 and even more impressively (depending on who you ask) racked up a five-star review from us.
Five iOS updates and a couple of hefty interface refreshes later, the arrival of the splendid HomePod Mini (despite the discontinuation of the original HomePod) means there’s no better time to get fully acquainted with the ins and outs of Apple’s music streaming service. You won’t get far with Apple’s little smart speaker if you don’t, at any rate – and there’s so much to enjoy.
Whether you’re on the free three-month trial or already a subscriber and regular user, we’ve pulled together some key tips, tricks and features to make sure you get the utmost from Apple Music.
Read our Apple Music review
Set-up
1. How to unsubscribe
Sure, this is something of a negative note to start on – but if you’re signing up for the three-month Apple Music free trial and don’t want to commit to paying for the service afterwards, you can opt out straight away.
To do this, click on your profile icon in the top right corner of the screen in the For You tab, hit View Account, then View Apple ID and sign in to your iTunes account.
Next, tap Subscriptions halfway down the page. Here you can ‘cancel’ your free trial so it won’t automatically renew – don’t worry, you can still use it free for the three months. This is also how to select your subscription choice in future. Savvy.
2. Bulk unfollow artists
When you sign up to the Apple Music service, Apple will take the liberty of ‘following’ any artist already in your library as part of its Connect feature. This means your Connect section (now relegated to the Made For You tab) will be full of new and seemingly never-ending content from these artists. This may not be what you’re after, especially if you once bought Baby Shark (for a kid’s party or something. We don’t judge).
It’s on by default, but you can switch it off by tapping the profile icon, then clicking on ‘Notifications’ (to see the artists you supposedly ‘like’) and then sliding the ‘New Music’ and ‘Show in Library’ buttons to ‘off’. Now you can make sure you only hear from the artists you really like.
3. Sign in to iCloud Music for extra features…
You might want to enable iCloud Music Library to get the most from Apple Music if you’re using an iPhone or iPad. A number of features are only available with iCloud Music activated – most notably offline listening. In your iPhone/iPad, go to Settings > Music and toggle iCloud Music Library on.
4. Or don’t…
This can present some problems to users with a big existing library, especially if you have your own playlists. Apple will match these with its own tracks so you can listen offline – but it may not always get the right version. So if you’re precious about your existing downloads (and rightly so), you may want to turn off iCloud. To do this, simply toggle the iCloud Music Library option off.
5. Or have iCloud Music on mobile only
If you have a big existing music library and you’re not sure about Apple matching it for access on your mobile, you can turn this feature off on your computer but leave it on for your mobile. This way your existing library is left alone but you can still have offline tracks on the Apple Music mobile app. Turn off iCloud Music Library on your Mac by going to Preferences > General, then unchecking iCloud Music Library.
6. Multiple devices
The Apple Music Individual Membership plan, yours for £9.99 per month, can be associated with up to ten devices, five of which can be computers. You can only stream on one device at a time, as is the case on Spotify, Tidal and other services.
7. Multiple devices at once
If you want to listen to multiple devices at the same time then you’ll need a Family Membership. This gives simultaneous streaming access for up to six different people for £14.99 per month.
Interface
8. View album information for now-playing track
One slightly hidden feature is viewing the album of the track that’s currently playing. You can do this in two ways. The easiest way is to tap on the artist and album name at the top of the now-playing window. A pop-up will appear asking if you want to ‘Go to Album’ or ‘Go to Artist’. Click on the Album option.
The second, slightly longer method is to tap the three-button icon in the bottom corner of the screen, then tap ‘Show Album’ on the pop-up menu. That’ll take you there.
9. View artist page
Same as above, but select ‘Go to Artist’.
Or, if you’ve used the longer method: once you’re transported to the album page, click the artist’s name (highlighted in that pinky-red text). For both methods, you’ll be taken to the artist’s landing page where you can see all their music and related content (such as new releases, playlists they’re featured in, bio, and similar artists).
10. Explicit tracks
If you were wondering what that little ‘E’ was next to certain tracks, it doesn’t stand for exclusive, it’s for explicit. So prepare your ears (or your child’s).
Organising your music
11. Optimise your storage
This one is a no-brainer. Because why fill up your phone’s storage space with music you’re not listening to? The Optimise Storage feature in Apple Music will automatically delete downloaded songs if storage is running low and you haven’t listened to them in a fair while.
It’s a neat, simple feature that keeps your phone free of music you don’t need. And once you’ve toggled a button, you’re all set. It works when you’re low on storage. To set it up, open the Settings menu on your iPhone, scroll to Music, then Optimise Storage. Boom.
12. Offline music
You can save tracks, albums and playlists to your phone for offline playback (when you don’t have an internet connection) if iCloud Music is enabled (see point 3).
You can only download music that’s been added to your library. If there’s a ‘+’ icon next to a song, that means it isn’t added to your library. Tap it to add. It’ll then transform into a cloud icon, meaning it’s not been downloaded yet. Tap the cloud to download.
You can identify the songs downloaded on your device as they won’t have any icon next to them.
13. Viewing offline music
No mobile or network coverage? Simply select the Downloaded Music category in the Library tab to only see the music stored on your phone for offline listening.
Remember: this is both downloaded songs and playlists from Apple Music, as well as your own music files physically stored on the phone.
14. Sort songs alphabetically by artist (or however you’d prefer)
Want to sort your music library alphabetically by title instead of by artists (the default setting)? In the Library tab, select Songs and tap ‘Sort’ in the top right corner. Then select Title, Recently Added or Artist in the pop-up menu. Hey presto.
15. Shuffle and repeat
Wondering where the shuffle and repeat icons have gone? On the Now Playing screen, you’ll see them right underneath the track and artist, next to ‘Playing Next’.
Music curation
16. Love tracks (or don’t)
Much of Apple Music’s draw is centred on the For You tab, where you’ll find recommended albums and artists based on the music you like. To give Apple’s algorithms a steer, you need to tap the Love (heart) icon on the pop-up menu for every song (or album) you like.
There’s now also a Dislike option right next to it (with a thumbs-down icon) to tell Apple songs you don’t want it to recommend. You can do this for whole playlists, too.
17. Adjust the EQ
You can use Apple Music to change the way music sounds on iPhone with EQ settings, volume limit options and Sound Check. Simply go to Settings > Music > EQ to choose from an exhaustive list of presets. To normalise the volume level of your audio: go to Settings > Music, and toggle on Sound Check.
18. New music
Need to find new music? Click on the Browse tab and you’ll find a section called New Music dedicated to the latest releases, albums, playlists, music videos and more.
In Browse’s Playlists section, you’ll find curated playlists from the likes of Pitchfork, NME and Sonos, as well as playlists for your every mood and activity.
19. Browse new music by genre
Tailor to your musical tastes even further by going to the Genres section and filtering music by, you guessed it, genre.
You can filter playlists by genre, too, in the Playlists section.
20. Use built-in Shazam
Here’s a bit of insider knowledge: Shazam is built right into iPhones, even without a download of the app. This nifty tool can help you figure out what songs are playing when you’re in the car and can’t scrutinise your screen (do not scroll and drive), or while watching shows or movies.
If you’re trying to put a name to a song, simply tap the Shazam button on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. And here’s the best bit: the app will identify the music you’ve captured and save it to your library.
To use this feature, open the Control Center in your device’s Settings and add the Music Recognition icon to your ‘Included Controls’ – if music recognition is enabled on your device, you’ll be able to swipe up and see the Shazam icon from your iPhone’s lock screen. Now, tap this Shazam music recognition button to swiftly identify what’s playing around you.
Radio and TV
21. Create your own radio station
You can play an Apple-curated selection of music based on a certain artist or track. Simply click on the three dots on an artist or a track and select Create Station from the pop-up menu to listen to related music. Tap the ‘love’ icon on subsequent songs to tell Apple to keep playing more songs like it.
22. Listen to live radio on Apple Music
Apple Music subscribers can now tune in to not one but three live radio stations: Apple Music 1, Apple Music Hits, and Apple Music Country. Click on the Radio icon at the bottom of the home screen, then scroll down to Apple Music 1, Apple Music Hits, or Apple Music Country to tune in live, see upcoming shows, and listen to previously aired shows on-demand.
23. Listen to broadcast radio
You can also tune in to your favorite broadcast radio stations, including your local ones. To do this, go to Search, search for the radio station by its name, call sign, frequency, or nickname, then tap or click the radio station to listen to it live. And don’t forget, you can also ask Siri to play a radio station by name.
24. Play music videos on Apple TV
Apple Music makes it easy to watch music videos on Apple TV. There’s actually a Videos screen in the Apple Music app that includes the hottest new music videos and video playlists, and it’s accessible right from the app on your Apple TV. To use it, open Music on Apple TV and swipe to Videos. Then, swipe down to see a menu of video categories. Depending on the video, you can add it to a playlist or your library or remove it from your library.
More features
25. Share your listening history with your friends
Fancy sharing new sonic discoveries with your friends? You can do it by creating an Apple Music profile within the app. Then, if your friends subscribe and create a profile, you can see what they are listening to, too.
To create a profile, tap Listen Now and, in the upper-right corner of this screen on your iPhone, tap the photo icon. (On an Android device, tap the More button, then tap Account). Now, tap See What Friends Are Listening To. Follow the onscreen prompts to create a username, find and follow friends, share playlists and more.
You can also control what you share (nobody needs to know all of your listening habits, right?) hide certain playlists, block or unblock users or follow your friends’ accounts.
26. Siri + Apple Music = clever
You can use voice control to play your music, whether you’re on your iPhone or Apple Watch ( for instance: “Hey Siri, play AC/DC”). But it’s actually even cleverer than that. You can start a radio station by saying “play AC/DC station”.
Apple Music can also play by date, popularity and release date, so “play the number one hit from April 1988”, “play the top songs by AC/DC” or “play the newest song by AC/DC*” all work. It can be a little hit and miss at times, but it’s worth experimenting with all sorts of commands.
(*other bands are available. They’re not as good, though)
(Image credit: Apple)
27. Siri + Apple Music + HomePod Mini = cleverer
Siri voice commands and Apple Music are the key ingredients to a great Apple HomePod Mini speaker experience, so if you’ve bought yourself a new HomePod Mini, you can ask it all sorts of questions to get your favourite tunes playing. Start off with “Hey Siri, play something I like” and it’ll use your Apple Music profile to create a personalised radio station of songs you know and like.
Amazon Echo vs Apple HomePod Mini: which is the best smart speaker?
28. Turn off Listening History for Apple HomePod Mini
If you have a HomePod Mini, you might not want your kids or that friend who only loves country music messing up your carefully curated For You recommendations when they start shouting out song requests.
Keep your Apple Music profile separate from what the Mini’s been playing by firing up the Home app (which you should’ve downloaded when setting it up), head to the Details section and switch ‘Use Listening History’ to off.
29. Wake and stream
Want to wake up to the sound of your favourite song? When setting an alarm in your iPhone’s Clock app, tap Sound > Pick a song (under the Songs section) and then choose a track from your Apple Music library.
30. Lyrics
You can karaoke! Scroll up from the now playing screen, and lyrics (where available) will appear. Alternatively, tap the Lyrics tab in the pop-up options menu.
Since iOS 12, searching for songs by lyrics is a thing, too. Just start typing lyrics in the search box and voila – you’ll get the song you’re looking for (or at least suggestions for what it could be).
Best music streaming services 2021: free streams to hi-res audio
12 of the best-produced recordings to test your speakers
If you’re more into hi-fi than music, that’s a problem
It’s nigh-on impossible to find meaningful fault with Netflix
For
Excellent video quality
Big, easy-to-navigate catalogue
High quality Originals
Against
Rarely first for big film releases
Netflix just keeps on getting better, making a more compelling case for your money at every turn. It’s everything you want from a video streaming service: simple to use, available on your preferred platform and filled with content you want to watch.
But it’s now got more rivals than ever and they’ve also upped their game, so is Netflix really the best video streaming service out there?
Pricing
Netflix UK pricing and features (Image credit: Netflix)
Netflix subscriptions start at £5.99 ($8.99, AU$10.99) per month for standard-definition streams to a single screen. Up your spend to £9.99 ($13.99, AU$15.99) per month and get high-def stuff available to watch on a couple of screens simultaneously.
Or go the whole hog (provided you’ve already gone the entire pig on a 4K Ultra HD TV) and spend £13.99 ($17.99, AU$19.99) per month for 4K content on as many as four screens at a time.
MORE: How to use Netflix Party: watch Netflix with friends online
Features
It goes without saying not all content is available in HD (720p) or Full HD (1080p), let alone Ultra HD or 4K. One of the great pleasures of a Netflix subscription is happening upon classic films such as Easy Rider and old episodes of cult TV shows such as Peep Show, and it would be optimistic in the extreme to expect them to represent the state of the technological arts.
But there’s now a huge stack of 4K content available, from The Crown and Last Chance U to Shadow Bone and Snowpiercer, and that stack is forever growing.
Netflix has a continuing good relationship with Sony Pictures that also grants the streamer exclusive rights to some Sony films. There’s also the excellent Studio Ghibli oeuvre now available in most countries.
In terms of bespoke content, Netflix distances itself from any nominal competition.
Netflix now prioritises its own content to such an extent that it seems less committed to adding blockbuster films from other studios than its main rival Amazon Prime Video. And now that Disney+ is on the scene, it’ll likely never be the first streaming service to add a Disney, Marvel or Star Wars title to its catalogue. But Netflix still has a strong selection of older favourites and not-too-aged blockbusters such as, at the time of writing, Arrival and Rocketman.
And as a content provider in its own right, Netflix goes from strength to strength, whether that’s through cinematic adventures or its increasingly impressive run of excellent documentary features and series.
And if you have an HDR (High Dynamic Range) compatible TV, there’s now loads of HDR content on Netflix too. It’s not immediately obvious, as there isn’t an HDR section anywhere in the menus, but if you type HDR into the search box you’ll find a list of HDR content such as After Life, The Witcher and Lupin. You’ll see an HDR logo (or Dolby Vision logo, if your TV supports it) on relevant content.
MORE: Best 4K TVs 2021
Provided your broadband connection is up to the task, it has always been a fuss-free and stable experience, and its broad compatibility is a strong sell too.
PCs and Macs, Google Chromecast, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV devices, Roku streamers, any smart TV worth its salt, games consoles, Blu-ray players from all the big brands, tablets and phones, whether iOS, Android or Windows, are all on the menu. In fact, there’s a strong argument that if a smart device doesn’t have Netflix, it can’t really be considered smart at all. It’s certainly the first app we look for whenever testing a new streaming product.
There’s good news for mobile users too. In the early days it wasn’t possible to download anything from Netflix to watch offline. Since November 2016, though, content can be downloaded to your phone and tablet to watch, glitch free, at your leisure on the Netflix app – and it does not count toward the limit of how many screens you can watch on at the same time. You can’t download literally everything, but there’s plenty of choice and lots of the most popular content is there for you to stick on your device.
MORE: Amazon Prime Video review
Ease of use
(Image credit: Netflix)
Ergonomically, things could hardly be simpler.
Aside from the TV app’s rather retrograde A-Z keyboard (rather than QWERTY) search function, it’s straightforward to browse, create a shortlist and enjoy Netflix’s more-hit-than-miss recommendations based on your previous viewing habits.
You can establish multiple user profiles, including parental locks to prevent the kids stumbling onto Zombeavers or similar.
There are also handy and fun features such as Play Something/Shuffle Play for when you’re stuck for what to watch next, and Netflix Party to watch online with friends.
MORE: 25 Netflix tips, tricks and features
Performance
Whether 4K, Full HD or standard definition, Netflix serves video streams at exactly the sort of quality you expect. Watch a 4K HDR stream such as Formula 1 Drive to Survive on an appropriate display and it’s prodigiously detailed, vibrant and stable.
Colours pop, contrast is punchy and the sheer amount of information available for your enjoyment is thrilling. It almost goes without saying, but if you own a 4K TV or 4K projector, the top tier £14 ($18, AU$20) subscription should be considered almost compulsory.
It’s all equally high-contrast, steady-motion, fine-detail good news for Full HD too. Native 1080p content looks accomplished, though obviously the exact amount of detail revealed in dark scenes (for instance) is to an extent dependent on the source material.
MORE: 15 of the best movies of the 1990s to test your home cinema
Given a fighting chance, though, Full HD stuff such as Collateral is vivid, stable and eminently watchable. As regards standard-def stuff, you take your chances.
The majority of decent TVs – and certainly all the screens we recommend – are equipped with effective upscaling engines and won’t make you regret your partiality for schlocky thrillers such as Ravenous.
5.1 audio is now available on many titles, and Netflix serves it up in the same manner as it does pictures: robustly and positively.
Provided you have the necessary home cinema set-up (or even the right soundbar) at home, Dolby Atmos is also available on a good portion of Netflix’s own TV shows and movies. It presents an altogether more substantial and immersive sound than anything your TV’s integrated speakers can manage.
Verdict
It’s difficult to think of a downside to Netflix. Set your mind to it and you can search for plenty of films it doesn’t have, but the same is true of any movie streaming service and Netflix is better than almost all of those when it comes to the combination of original content, cherry-picked classics, video and sound quality, usability, and individual recommendations.
Disney+ will have turned many a head, but there are plenty who are left cold by the House of Mouse’s output, and, with recent price hikes to Netflix and Disney+, signing up to both services is not quite the financial no-brainer it once was.
Sure, the Premium tier (£13.99, $17.99, AU$19.99) now feels a more considerable monthly outgoing than before. All the same, if we had to live with just one video streaming service, it’s no contest. The quality, consistency and breadth of content available mean that Netflix is still king.
MORE:
Amazon vs Netflix – which is better?
9 simple ways to get better Netflix recommendations
10 of the best sports films and documentaries on Netflix UK
Best movies on Netflix
The 40 best TV shows to watch on Netflix right now
With quality programmes, vast platform support and a great interface, iPlayer is the best video-on-demand catch-up TV service out there
For
Superb content
Intuitive and slick interface
Extensive platform support
Against
Still no permanent 4K offering
It’s free (although you need a TV licence). It’s the home of superb TV shows. There are no ads. And you can download programmes for offline watching. Put simply, BBC iPlayer is the UK’s best catch-up TV service.
Even without considering all the live broadcast TV and radio the corporation provides across many channels, iPlayer is almost worth the licence fee on its own.
Missed the last episode of Line of Duty, need another Pointless fix or want to see what all the Killing Eve or Fleabag fuss is about? BBC iPlayer is your answer. It was already a great desktop service when first introduced in 2007 and, well over a decade on, it’s even more excellent in its incarnation as an app for your TV, smartphone and tablet.
Features
(Image credit: BBC)
Unlike Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, iPlayer is free to use – so long as you pay the BBC’s annual licence fee (currently £159), which has been in place, in some form or another, for almost a century.
The on-demand service is the home of BBC shows that have recently aired, offering a (typically 30-day) window to catch them before they are free to whizz off to the BBC and ITV’s relatively new, £5.99-per-month BritBox streaming service, which is where you’ll find the biggest collection of British TV content ever, combining current and classic boxsets for on-demand viewing.
BBC iPlayer does host some of its most popular TV shows for longer durations, however – Killing Eve (which became the first British-made show to be named the best comedy series at the Emmy Awards last year), Line of Duty (multipleBAFTA Television Awards nominee), Luther (multiple Golden Globe nominee) and Doctor Foster (two-time National Television Awards winner) are, at the time of writing, available to binge in their entirety on iPlayer, for example.
In a bid to boost the nation’s spirits during lockdown, the BBC helpfully added a slew of new long-term boxsets to iPlayer. The ‘from the archive’ tab in ‘categories’ is where you’ll find full series’ of classic fare such as Absolutely Fabulous, Black Adder and The Vicar of Dibley as well as pretty much every Michael Palin documentary ever made.
It would be difficult to guess how many hours of content iPlayer offers at any one time, but there always seems to be at least one show on iPlayer that everyone is talking about – and that’s a credit to the broadcaster’s consistency for quality programming.
As with many streaming services these days, BBC iPlayer lets you download shows onto your smart device for offline watching for up to 30 days. This is great for long train journeys, if you’re travelling out of the country (iPlayer is only available in the UK) or can’t get any internet or data signal.
You can choose whether to restrict downloading to when you’re connected to a wi-fi network or allow downloading over your mobile network data in the app’s settings.
Best media streamers: the best TV streaming devices
(Image credit: BBC)
BBC iPlayer’s familiar grid layout is neat and stylish, with its home screen logically presenting you with ‘Featured’, ‘Recommended for You’, ‘Continue Watching’ and ‘Most Popular’ suggestions. The service dynamically highlights programmes, too, mixing documentaries and comedy panel shows so that there’s something for everyone.
You can also browse programmes by channels (BBC One, BBC Two or CBeebies, for example), categories (Arts, Food and Documentaries, say) or TV guide schedules. Or you can simply search for them. You can add shows to your ‘My Programmes’ list, too, so new episodes are easy to access.
Essentially, each update to iPlayer over the years has made it fresher and more intuitive to use. Scrolling through the service is a swift and smooth process, regardless of what platform you’re using.
This is probably a good time to mention that the iPlayer app is everywhere: on pretty much every smart TV and media streamer, available to download across iOS and Android devices, even on Xbox Series X/S. iPlayer’s not currently on the PS5, but it’s still one of the most prevalent apps across smart devices in the UK.
Just be aware that you need to create a BBC ID account to watch any iPlayer content, although it is free to sign up and stays logged in at all times, keeping your favourites list and watching history synced across all devices.
29 BBC iPlayer tips, tricks and features
Picture
(Image credit: BBC)
With increasingly high-quality screen resolutions on smartphones and tablets, both standard and high-definition shows on iPlayer look as good as you’d reasonably expect them to.
Naturally, we would urge you to play HD whenever you can. Most programmes are available in HD, so long as they’ve first been broadcast on a BBC HD channel.
Then there’s the BBC’s next-level 4K Ultra HD content, which offers a huge step up in picture quality – namely in resolution and detail. While the BBC still doesn’t yet have a regular, permanent 4K offering, it has run several 4K trials on iPlayer since 2016, including Planet Earth II and Blue Planet II on-demand viewing and, even more excitingly, live broadcasts of the 2018 FIFA World Cup football and Wimbledon tennis.
After temporarily removing 4K content during 2020 to help ease the strain on broadband networks, iPlayer has made UHD programming available again. The current ‘trial’ has nine shows available to stream, including His Dark Materials and Black Narcissus. We can’t help but feel it really is about time for 4K to become a permanent fixture of the service.
Despite broadcasting some HD programmes, such as The Proms, in 5.1 surround sound, all content on iPlayer is only available in stereo. This is a bit disappointing, especially when streaming modern films or the flagship 4K documentary Seven Worlds, One Planet, which we know has a lush Dolby Atmos soundtrack on its Blu Ray release. Although some paid-for streaming platforms do have tiers that support multi-channel sound, we understand that the BBC doesn’t have any plans to add that functionality to iPlayer in the short term.
The BBC does provide excellent accessibility features for the visually impaired and hard of hearing. Many programmes will have icons that tell you whether audio description (AD) or sign language (SL) options are available.
Here’s what’s next for 4K HDR streaming content on the BBC
Verdict
BBC iPlayer isn’t entirely free, of course. But when the license fee amounts to less than 45p per day, and you look at the incredible range and accessibility of programming available from the BBC, not to mention the cutting-edge picture technologies it strives to offer in the hopefully near future, we’d happily carry on paying so that we can see more of the broadcaster’s David Attenborough-narrated nature documentaries.
MORE:
Netflix review
Best TVs
Best smart TVs: which smart TV platform is the best?
Organising your digital music collection, you might be struck by the number of different audio file formats in your library. Almost everyone’s heard of MP3, but what about OGG, AIFF, MQA or DSD?
If the list leaves you wondering whether all those songs studied at different universities to get such official-looking letters after their names, don’t worry. We’re here to break down the meaning of the most common music file formats, the differences between them, and why you should care.
Whether you’re listening to low-quality MP3 files, probably slightly better AAC tracks, or hi-res audio in FLAC or WAV, it’s time to understand exactly what you’re getting – and which is the best file format for you.
Read on to learn about the pros and cons of each audio file format…
File formats and codecs at-a-glance
Want to cut straight to the chase? Here’s a handy guide to all the file formats and the differences between them. If you want to know more, read on below for a more in-depth look at the differences in size, sound quality and compatibility.
AAC (not hi-res): Apple’s alternative to MP3 – stands for ‘Advanced Audio Coding’. Lossy and compressed, but sounds generally better. Used for Apple Music streaming.
AIFF (hi-res): Apple’s alternative to WAV, with better metadata support. It is lossless and uncompressed (so big file sizes), but not hugely popular.
DSD (hi-res): The single-bit format used for Super Audio CDs. It comes in 2.8mHz, 5.6mHz and 11.2mHz varieties, but due to its high-quality codec, it’s (mostly) impractical for streaming. Uncompressed.
FLAC (hi-res): This lossless compression format supports hi-res sample rates, takes up about half the space of WAV, and stores metadata. It’s royalty-free and is considered the preferred format for downloading and storing hi-res albums. The downside is, it’s not supported by Apple (so not compatible with Apple Music).
MP3 (not hi-res): Popular, lossy compressed format ensures small file size, but far from the best sound quality. Convenient for storing music on smartphones and iPods.
MQA (hi-res): A lossless compression format that packages hi-res files for more efficient streaming. Used for Tidal Masters hi-res streaming.
OGG (not hi-res): Sometimes called by its full name, Ogg Vorbis. A lossy, open-source alternative to MP3 and AAC, unrestricted by patents. The file format used (at 320kbps) in Spotify streaming.
WAV (hi-res): The standard format in which all CDs are encoded. Great sound quality but it’s uncompressed, meaning huge file sizes (especially for hi-res files). It has poor metadata support (that is, album artwork, artist and song title information).
WMA Lossless (hi-res): A lossless incarnation of Windows Media Audio, but no longer well-supported by smartphones or tablets.
Best music streaming services 2021: free streams to hi-res audio
MQA audio: everything you need to know
What is DSD audio?
Compressed vs. uncompressed audio files
First, let’s talk about the three categories all audio files can be grouped into. It comes down to how compressed the data is (if at all) and as a result, how much quality or “loss” you’ll experience, as a listener.
If no compression algorithm (or codec) has been used to compress the audio within your file, two things happen: zero loss in sound quality, and soon-enough, a “startup disk full” warning on your laptop.
Essentially, an uncompressed track is a reproduction of the original audio file, where real-world signals are transformed into digital audio.
WAV vs AIFF vs FLAC: uncompressed file formats
WAV and AIFF are arguably the most popular uncompressed audio file formats, both based on PCM (Pulse Code Modulation), which is widely recognised as the most straightforward audio storage mechanism in the digital domain. Both WAV and AIFF files use similar technology, but store data in slightly different ways. They can store CD-quality or high-resolution audio files.
WAV was developed by Microsoft and IBM, hence it’s used in Windows-based platforms, and is the standard format all CDs are encoded in.
AIFF was developed by Apple as an alternative to WAV, and although not as widely popular, AIFF files have better metadata support, meaning you can include album artwork, song titles and the like.
The drawback? These babies are big. A CD-quality (16-bit, 44.1kHz) file will take around 10MB of your hard drive per minute in length.
ALAC vs FLAC vs WMA Lossless: lossless audio formats
Everyone loves a FLAC. A lossless file, the FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) is compressed to nearly half the size of an uncompressed WAV or AIFF of equivalent sample rate, but there should be no “loss” in terms of how it sounds. FLAC files can also provide a resolution of up to 32-bit, 96kHz, so better than CD-quality.
Other lossless audio file formats include ALAC (Apple Lossless) and WMA Lossless (Windows Media Audio). The former is a good iOS and iTunes compatible alternative to FLAC, although the files are slightly less compact than FLACs. Check for smartphone and tablet compatibility, though.
AAC vs MP3: lossy audio formats
Who’s heard of an MP3? Course you have. Steve Jobs famously pulled 1000 of them out of his pocket on 23rd October 2001. It is easily the most common audio format, and MP3s are convenient for storing music on portable players or tablets and work on almost all playback devices. But to do that, you have to lose a load of information in the process. In order to make audio files up to ten times smaller than CD quality files, some original data must be discarded, resulting in a loss of sound quality.
The bit-rate at which an MP3 is recorded also affects the sound quality. MP3s encoded at 128kbps will incur more sound loss than those encoded at 320kbps (kilobits per second, where each “bit” is essentially a “piece” of the song). Now that storage is so much cheaper, we’d avoid 128kbps at all costs, though 320kbps MP3s still have their purpose if your storage is limited – and they remain a standard on download stores.
Another lossy format is AAC (Apple’s Advanced Audio Coding) which is compressed much like an MP3, but it’s slightly more efficient and sounds better. AAC is used for Apple Music streaming (at 256kbps) and YouTube streaming.
The Vorbis format, often called Ogg Vorbis owing to its Ogg container, (the best way to think of this is that OGG is the can, Vorbis is the ring-pull) is a lossy, open-source alternative to MP3 and AAC, unrestricted by patents. Ogg Vorbis is the file format used (at 320kbps) in Spotify streaming.
If you’re sticking with lossy, it’s worth remembering this: while more “bits” usually means better sound, it depends on the efficiency of the codec in your file. Although you might notice that much of the music in your collection is encoded at 128kbps so should be much of a muchness, an MP3 will likely sound a fair bit (see what we did there?) worse than an AAC or Ogg Vorbis file, due to the inefficiency of the codec in an MP3.
What about high-resolution audio?
Unlike high-definition video, there’s no single universal standard when it comes to high-resolution audio.
However, in its simplest terms, hi-res audio tends to refer to music files which have a higher sampling frequency and/or bit depth than CD – which is specified at 16-bit/44.1kHz. Hi-res files therefore come in the form of 16-bit/96kHz or 24-bit/192kHz, for example.
So why should you care? Quite simply, hi-res audio files have a lot of extra audio information and thus sound a lot better than compressed audio formats, which lose information in the compression process. They will take up more storage space but we definitely think it’s worth the trade off.
Uncompressed files like AIFF and WAV are hi-res, as are those lossless FLAC and ALAC file formats. DSD (the somewhat niche format used for Super Audio CDs) is also hi-res, but it’s not as widely supported. When it comes to streaming, MQA is a file packing format used by the likes of Tidal Masters, which helps to bring hi-res audio to streaming services using as little bandwidth as possible.
As for playing hi-res audio, an increasing amount of products now support it. Premium portable music players such as the Award-winning Cowon Plenue D2 plus the newer and rather splendid Cowon Plenue D3 support 24-bit/192kHz WAV, FLAC, ALAC and AIFF files. Both players boast DSD128 file compatibility too – and that support is native, so DSD files aren’t converted to PCM during playback.
The Astell & Kern Kann Alpha and another 2020 Award-winner, the Astell & Kern A&futura SE200 digital audio players are like many A&K players (including the entry-level A&norma SR25) in that file support goes all the way up to 32-bit/384kHz and includes native DSD256 and MQA playback.
KEF’s new LS50 Wireless II speakers will play 24-bit/192kHz files in all their glory, and support for DSD256 is also onboard too this time, as is MQA decoding for the playback of compatible downloaded files and hi-res Tidal Masters.
Hi-res audio can also be played on most flagship Android smartphones, but you can’t play hi-res on a box-fresh iPhone. We’ve found ways around that, but it’s worth remembering that hi-res audio isn’t quite as portable as its lossy brethren – yet. You can find more info on which hi-fi products support hi-res audio here.
Which is the best audio file format for you?
The file format you choose will depend on whether storage or sound quality is your key concern, as well as which devices you intend to use for playback.
MP3s became hugely popular when storage was at a premium. Now that phones, music players and laptops have far more storage space, we think you really should be looking to use better-than-CD-quality files.
If you’re archiving your audio files, a FLAC or other lossless file might be a good shout for ripping your music, though. Lossless files strike a good balance between compression and sound quality, allowing you to listen to the best quality digital music without taking up all your storage space. Just make sure your devices are all compatible with your file format of choice.
High-resolution audio: everything you need to know
Best portable music players 2021: from budget to hi-res music
Home/Software & Gaming/Fortnite is not on Xbox Cloud Gaming due to competition with Epic PC offerings
Matthew Wilson 16 hours ago Software & Gaming
With the Epic Games V Apple trial set to get underway in just a matter of days, court documents are starting to reveal some interesting facts about both companies. One court document reveals that Epic Games is keeping Fortnite off of Microsoft’s xCloud streaming service, as Epic views it as a competitor to its own PC offerings.
The document, which was uncovered by The Verge, goes over deposition questions directed towards Epic Games VP of business development, Joe Kreiner. When asked about why Fortnite isn’t on Microsoft’s Xbox Game Streaming service, Kreiner said: “we viewed Microsoft’s efforts with xCloud to be competitive with our PC offerings”.
As a result, Fortnite isn’t available to stream on Microsoft’s service, although it is available elsewhere, including Nvidia’s GeForce Now streaming service.
On GeForce Now, all revenue made through microtransactions and in-game subscriptions goes straight to Epic Games, while on the Xbox, Epic has to use the Xbox Store for in-game transactions. However, Kreiner does admit that Epic Games hasn’t negotiated this with Microsoft.
This line of questioning is all part of the lawsuit between Epic Games and Apple. Epic’s case against Apple is centred around iOS App Store policies, which prohibit rival app stores and payment processing methods from being used. Due to this, Fortnite was removed from the iOS platform last year.
KitGuru Says: We’re going to get some interesting looks behind the scenes of mobile, PC and console businesses during this case. The Epic V Apple trial is set to begin next week.
Become a Patron!
Check Also
Monster Hunter Rise has outsold Street Fighter V in just one month
For most of its history, the Monster Hunter franchise had seen support from a select …
Earlier today, Microsoft released a blog post sharing the company’s thoughts on the gaming industry and its focus for gaming in 2021 and beyond. Microsoft’s goal has changed for the Xbox team and its gaming initiatives from focusing more on a specific platform (i.e the Xbox consoles) to being focused on multiple platforms, specifically the PC.
Microsoft’s end goal is to be a ‘player first’ company, focusing more on the game rather than the platform it’s on. This means that we’ll be seeing more and more features being focused on the PC platform, and not just the Xbox consoles alone.
This is good news for PC gamers is that Microsoft is now focusing more than ever before on the PC gaming ecosystem, which hopefully means more and more gaming optimizations for the PC and more cross-play potential, which is what Microsoft also highlighted in its blog post.
For example, Microsoft shares more details on Halo Infinite which is getting a significant amount of PC development time and will fully support features such as ultrawide (21:9) and super ultrawide (32:9) screens, triple keybinds, and higher fidelity graphics which will be PC exclusive.
Plus, Halo infinite will also have cross-play capabilities with PC and the latest Xbox Series X/S consoles.
Microsoft is also expanding its cloud gaming services to allow any device to stream over 100 console games to your PC. A few days ago, Microsoft announced the beta for its cloud gaming service, and it will work with both Windows 10 devices and Apple iOS devices through web browsers such as Edge, Chrome, and Safari.
As for developers, Microsoft is adding more features to give developers an easier time making games for PCs. Currently, there’s a new DirectX12 feature called the Agility SDK, allowing developers to push the latest DirectX 12 features and updates to their games without the end user (player) requiring an operating system update.
Microsoft is also working on other features like Auto HDR technology and continuing to work on DirectStorage technology, which was an Xbox exclusive feature but is now being developed for the PC.
These are just some of the features Microsoft addressed in its blog post, but overall it’s great to see Microsoft focusing on the PC player experience just as much as on the Xbox consoles.
(Pocket-lint) – Apple and Samsung both offer their own wireless earphones. Apple’s earbuds come in the form of the AirPods, which now come in two flavours: regular and Pro. Samsung has multiple models too, but its bog-standard set is the Galaxy Buds.
If you’re trying to work out which entry level wireless earbuds are best for you, you’ve come to the right place. Here’s how the Apple AirPods 2 and the Samsung Galaxy Buds compare.
squirrel_widget_148285
Price
AirPods: From $159 / £159
Galaxy Buds: $129.99 / £139
The Apple AirPods start at £159. This is for the second generation model with the standard charging case. There is also the option of a wireless charging case, which will set you back £79 on its own or £199 for the AirPods with the wireless charging case.
The Samsung Galaxy Buds have been discounted quite heavily since launch. Originally they cost about £140, but now can be found for about £120. They come with a wireless charging case as standard.
squirrel_widget_147360
Design
AirPods: White only, optional wireless charging case
Galaxy Buds: White, Black, Yellow, wireless charging case as standard
The Apple AirPods come in white only and they look a little like a very small electric toothbrush head. Some will love the design, others will hate it. We sit in the former camp, though we’d like extra colours. The AirPods are a little larger than the Galaxy Buds in terms of overall size because of the extra part below the earpiece, but the earpiece itself is smaller.
The AirPods slot into a small, almost square, case that has a Lightning port at the bottom for charging. Whilst in the case, the AirPods will recharge providing the case itself has charge. There is a pairing button on the rear of the case and an LED indicator light is present in between the AirPods, which you’ll see when you open the case lid.
The Samsung Galaxy Buds meanwhile, come in three colour options including white, black and yellow. The Galaxy Buds fit snuggly into the inner part of your ear, providing a more subtle and perhaps more secure design than the AirPods, though a little bulkier.
Like the AirPods, the Galaxy Buds slot into a case, this time cylindrical in shape, and they will recharge whilst in the case. There is an LED indicator light inside the case, as well as outside the case and a USB Type-C charging port on the rear. As mentioned though, the Galaxy Buds case is wireless charging compatible as standard, while the AirPods wireless charging case is a more expensive option.
Features
AirPods: Siri, Auto pause, One or two AirPods can be worn, Double tap gesture
Galaxy Buds: AKG sound, Bixby Voice, One or two Galaxy Buds can be worn, double or triple tap gesture
The Apple AirPods have voice-activated Siri access that is powered by the H1 chip. There are also several other features that make the AirPods very easy to use for an Apple user once they are connected.
AirPods automatically recognise when they are in your ear, pausing when you take them out, while optical sensors and motion accelerometers work in tandem to engage the microphones for phone calls and Siri access, filtering out external noise when required.
It’s possible to wear one AirPod or both, and double tapping an AirPod will allow you to skip a track or play a song, depending on the action you have set up. You can read more about AirPod features in our tips and tricks, as well as the features available for Android users in our separate feature.
The Samsung Galaxy Buds have sound by AKG and they have adaptive dual microphone technology to recognise your surroundings, switching between inner and outer mics to filter out background noise when you’re on a call and allowing you to hear what’s happening around you when you’re not.
Like AirPods, you can choose to wear one or two Galaxy Buds and Samsung recently added Bixby Voice to the Galaxy Buds, allowing you to control ambient sound, battery status and equaliser controls with your voice. The latest update also offered improved touchpad controls, with options for double tapping and triple tapping, allowing for a little more flexibility than the AirPods in terms of gesture controls.
Apple AirPods tips and tricks
Setup
AirPods: One-tap setup for iOS users
Galaxy Buds: One-tap setup for Android users
Both Bluetooth
The Apple AirPods and the Samsung Galaxy Buds both connect via Bluetooth. For Apple users, the AirPods will recognise automatically as soon as you open the case, appearing on your display. After you tap the connect button, they will then connect to any Apple devices associated with your Apple ID including the Apple Watch, iPad or Macs.
For Samsung users, the Galaxy Buds will do the same as AirPods do for Apple users. They will be automatically recognised by your Samsung device when you open the box, giving you the option to pair the Buds to your phone with one tap.
If you’re an Android user looking to buy the Apple AirPods, or an Apple users looking to buy the Galaxy Buds, both will still work but you’ll need to perform setup via the Bluetooth settings on your device instead.
Battery life
AirPods: 3 hours talk time, 5 hours listening time
Galaxy Buds: 5 hours talk time, 6 hours usage time
The second generation of Apple AirPods offer up to three hours of talk time and up to five hours of listening time on a full charge.
The AirPods charging case holds multiple charges for up to 24 hours of listening time and placing the AirPods back in their case for 15 minutes should offer up to three hours of listening time and up to two hours of talk time.
The Samsung Galaxy Buds offer up to five hours talk time and up to six hours of usage time. Each earbud has a 52mAh battery capacity, while the Galaxy Bud charging case has a 252mAh battery capacity. The Galaxy Buds also claim to offer up to 20 hours of standby time.
Conclusion
The Samsung Galaxy Buds are quite a bit cheaper than the Apple AirPods, they promise a slightly longer battery life and they offer many of the same features, though not all are available for iOS users just like not all AirPod features are available to Android users.
If you have an Android device, specifically Samsung, then the Galaxy Buds are the better option for you out of these two wireless earphones being compared thanks to the seamless setup and the features offered, including Bixby Voice control. They also have a wireless charging case as standard.
If you have an Apple device, the AirPods deliver a more seamless experience, including one-tap setup to all your Apple devices and a range of features including automatic ear recognition and Siri control. They are pricey though, especially if you choose the wireless charging case option so you might consider the Galaxy Buds if you don’t mind sacrificing a few features for the extra pennies in your pocket.
Spotify is trying again to make its Your Library tab easier to navigate. It’s introducing dynamic filters, a new grid view, the ability to pin content, and different sorting options. The changes are coming to all users across iOS and Android over the coming week. The filters will likely be the most useful change, with users being able to filter between album, artist, playlist, or podcast. Premium users can also choose to view only downloaded content, which, up until now, has been hard to find within Spotify without scrolling through every artist and album they’ve saved.
Users can also choose to pin four playlists, albums, or podcast shows that’ll show up at the top of their content. To pin, swipe right on what you want to keep at the top. Finally, users can view content in a grid view or in a list by the content’s alphabetical order, recently played, or the creators’ names.
The changes aren’t exactly monumental, but that downloaded content filter will likely be especially useful. I know I’ve spent way too long trying to find something I’ve saved whenever I fly, so hopefully this solves that issue. Spotify last updated Your Library in 2019, but only for Premium users. This forthcoming update will make the experience easier for everyone, which is much appreciated.
Facebook’s ad revenue was up more than 45 percent during the first three months of 2020, soaring to $25.4 billion — or about seven times what Twitter makes in an entire year. But the company sees some potential problems on the horizon that could limit continued growth: regulators are closing in on ad tracking practices, and a feature launched this week by Apple could harm its ability to target ads.
“We continue to expect increased ad targeting headwinds in 2021 from regulatory and platform changes,” Facebook CFO Dave Wehner writes in the company’s Q1 2021 earnings release. Wehner specifically calls out iOS 14.5, which includes a feature that lets iPhone and iPad users easily stop apps from tracking them in certain ways. Facebook expects to start seeing an impact from the changes to iOS right away.
Facebook believes its ad revenue will continue to grow over the rest of 2020 even with those changes, but it sees a slowdown coming in the second half of the year. Mostly, Facebook says, that’s because it did so well last year during the pandemic. But regulatory factors and Apple’s changes will play a role.
The new update requires apps like Facebook to proactively ask users to consent to being tracked for the purpose of advertising. Facebook and other companies expect a lot of people to opt out, and there’s a possibility that’ll hurt their ability to accurately target ads. Facebook has criticized the feature as a threat to the businesses that rely on those ads. “Apple’s latest update threatens the personalized ads that millions of small businesses rely on to find and reach customers,” a Facebook website reads.
Meanwhile, the European Union’s data protection leader has recommended a ban on ad targeting that’s based on tracked web activity. European lawmakers are planning a significant overhaul of digital marketplace regulations, and Facebook could come out with fewer available tools to target ads to individual users.
But for the moment, Facebook continues to grow on all major counts. Daily users across Facebook’s family of products hit 2.72 billion, up from 2.6 billion at the end of the prior quarter, while monthly users hit 3.45 billion.
Earlier this month, we learned that the iOS version of Fortnite was a huge revenue driver for Epic Games — the game earned more than $700 million from iOS customers over the two years before it was pulled by Apple, according to court documents (PDF) released ahead of Epic’s trial against the iPhone maker. But even though iOS Fortnite players brought in a staggering amount of money for Epic, iOS isn’t the biggest platform in terms of revenue for the game — apparently, it might even be among the smallest.
Court documents reveal that PlayStation 4 generated 46.8 percent of Fortnite’s total revenues from March 2018 through July 2020, while Xbox One, the second-highest platform, generated 27.5 percent. iOS ranked fifth, with just 7 percent of total revenue. The remaining 18.7 percent would have been split between Android, Nintendo Switch, and PCs.
In 2020, iOS revenues were projected to be an even smaller piece of the pie: just 5.8 percent, compared to 24 percent for Xbox One and “almost 40 percent” for PlayStation 4, according to a new deposition (PDF) of Epic Games’ David Nikdel, a senior programmer who works on the backend services for Fortnite.
“iOS was always the lowest or second lowest if Android was listed, correct?” lawyers asked Joe Babcock, Epic’s CFO until March 2020, in a separate deposition. The answer was yes.
Babcock explicitly confirmed that the iOS version of Fortnite earned less revenue, month to month, than:
PlayStation 4
Xbox (presumably Xbox One)
Nintendo Switch
PCs
iOS’s low revenues compared to other platforms may not be entirely surprising, based on past comments from Epic CEO Tim Sweeney. He said in a declaration that Fortnite on iOS represented 10 percent of the game’s total average daily players in the two years from when the game launched to when it was pulled from the App Store in August. And Fortnite is considered to be a billion-dollar business all on its own: in 2019, it reportedly brought in $1.8 billion in revenue all by itself. (Epic projected company-wide revenue of $3.85 billion in 2020, to give you some idea of how big Fortnite is compared to, well, everything else Epic does.)
Thanks to these court documents being released ahead of the trial, we now have a better idea of where Fortnite makes most of its money — and despite the huge amount of dollars flying around mobile games right now, PlayStation and Xbox seem to account for the bulk of Fortnite’s earnings. They could make Epic’s choice to fight Apple and Google make a bit more sense — even if they alienate the app store companies, Epic can bank on Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo consoles continuing to rake in cash.
Epic Games is holding back Fortnite from being available on Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming (xCloud) service, according to a new deposition made public as part of the Epic case against Apple. The Fortnite developer views Microsoft’s xCloud service as competition to its PC offerings, and the company is deliberately not offering Fortnite on xCloud as a result.
Joe Kreiner, Epic’s vice president of business development, was questioned over why Fortnite isn’t available on xCloud, and confirmed it was a deliberate choice. “We viewed Microsoft’s efforts with xCloud to be competitive with our PC offerings,” says Kreiner in the deposition. The court document makes it appear like Kreiner may go on to explain why, but the next part of the questioning has been redacted.
Fortnite is a free-to-play game on Xbox, and the only way to currently access the game on an iPhone is through Nvidia’s GeForce Now cloud gaming service. Epic Games partnered with Nvidia last year to launch Fortnite on GeForce Now and has helped Nvidia offer a number of other games from its PC game store on the Nvidia cloud gaming service, where all of the revenue from the original game’s purchase or any in-app purchases goes back to Epic rather than Nvidia. As far as Epic is concerned, the game is simply running on a PC.
That is likely a key reason why Epic has favored Nvidia over Microsoft to host Fortnite in the cloud. Microsoft doesn’t currently allow rival game stores on Xbox or xCloud in any form, and all transactions go through Microsoft there. In fact, Kreiner even admits that Epic Games hasn’t tried to negotiate with Microsoft over the requirement to have to use the Xbox maker’s store and commerce engine.
Epic’s entire case against Apple is centered on the App Store, and the company believes Apple should allow rival app stores on iOS devices or rival payment processing platforms. Epic is trying to fight Apple’s App Store policies, a 30 percent (15 percent for some) cut for subscriptions and in-app purchases, and the removal of Fortnite from the App Store. Kreiner’s questioning is part of this ongoing lawsuit, and it’s a huge case that’s already shining a light on the practices throughout the mobile and game industry that result in consumers being able to access games and apps across devices beyond just the iPhone.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
