The Verge – Page 16

Wunderlist’s creators are back with a nifty new to-do app

Wunderlist was both full of useful features and whimsical in a way few apps manage. Then, long story short, Microsoft bought it in 2015, morphed it into Microsoft To Do (a very good and much less delightful tasks app), and killed Wunderlist forever. But a group of the folks who made Wunderlist in the first place, led by co-founder Christian Reber, set out to bring its spirit back to life.
https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/13/24071136/superlist-tasks-app-wunderlist-productivity-tool

Supreme Court rejects Epic v. Apple antitrust case

Epic v. Apple began in 2020 after Epic implemented its own payment system for Fortnite’s virtual currency, bypassing Apple’s commission on in-app purchases. Apple banned Epic from its iOS App Store and Epic filed a lawsuit in response, claiming the App Store — and Apple’s overall walled-garden approach to iOS — violated US antitrust laws. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers rejected most of Apple’s claims and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals largely affirmed the decision.
https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/16/24039983/supreme-court-epic-apple-antitrust-case-rejected

Adobe abandons $20 billion acquisition of Figma

Following mounting pressure from regulators in the UK and EU, Adobe and Figma announced on Monday that both companies are mutually terminating their merger agreement, which would have seen Adobe acquire the Figma product design platform for $20 billion. “It’s not the outcome we had hoped for,” said Figma CEO Dylan Field in a statement. “But despite thousands of hours spent with regulators around the world detailing differences between our businesses, our products, and the markets we serve, we no longer see a path toward regulatory approval of the deal.”
https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/18/24005996/adobe-figma-acquisition-abandoned-termination-fee

E3 is officially over forever

E3 is dead for good. “We know it’s difficult to say goodbye to such a beloved event, but it’s the right thing to do given the new opportunities our industry has to reach fans and partners,” Stanley Pierre-Louis, the CEO of the Entertainment Software Association, the nonprofit trade organization that ran E3, told the Post.
https://www.theverge.com/23998271/e3-gaming-convention-canceled-death

Apple responds to the Beeper iMessage saga: ‘We took steps to protect our users’

A few days after the team at Beeper proudly announced a way for users to send blue-bubble iMessages directly from their Android devices without any weird relay servers, and about 24 hours after it became clear Apple had taken steps to shut that down, Apple has shared its take on the issue. The company’s stance here is fairly predictable: it says it’s simply trying to do right by users, and protect the privacy and security of their iMessages. “We took steps to protect our users by blocking techniques that exploit fake credentials in order to gain access to iMessage,” Apple senior PR manager Nadine Haija said in a statement.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/9/23995150/beeper-imessage-android-apple-statement

Instagram and Facebook cross messaging is coming to an end

“A few years ago, we introduced a new Messenger experience in Instagram DMs which enabled people to message and call a FB account (Messenger) from an Instagram account and vice versa,” spokesperson Alex Dziedzan said. “Starting in mid-December, we will begin removing this feature. However, people can continue to message and call their contacts on Facebook, Instagram or Messenger.”
https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/5/23988879/instagram-facebook-meta-cross-platform-messaging-discontinued-mid-december-2023