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Multitip cords, power hubs and more of the very best home charging solutions [Deals]

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Home Charging Solution Main (1)
From multi-cords to mushroom hubs, we've rounded up some of the very best charging solutions.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Staying charged is essential to staying connected, so we rounded up some of our favorite charging solutions. From multitip power cords to wireless charging stands, these handy accessories will keep your gear topped up in style.

The Morning Show curse? Apple TV+ show’s second season gets a rewrite.

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The Morning Show
Season one also had to be rewritten at the last moment.
Photo: Apple

For the second time, a season of The Morning Show is having to be completely rewritten to reflect sweeping global changes.

The Apple TV+ show had to be virtually rebooted prior to the filming of Season 1 due to the #MeToo movement and the firing of TV host Matt Lauer as the result of sexual impropriety accusations. Now Deadline reveals that Season 2 is also being rewritten — this time to reflect the COVID-19 pandemic.

Eddy Cue emails confirm Apple’s deal to cut Amazon’s App Store fees

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Eddy Cue
Eddy Cue met with Jeff Bezos to talk about the deal.
Photo: CNBC

Apple agreed to halve its App Store fee for Amazon so the company would bring its Prime Video app to iOS and Apple TV, emails reveal (.pdf).

Apple exec Eddy Cue and Amazon boss Jeff Bezos personally negotiated the deal in 2016, it was revealed during Wednesday’s antitrust hearing looking into tech giants’ business practices. They agreed that Apple would get a 15% revenue cut from day one for customers who signed up through the app. Apple normally gets a 30% cut for the first year of an app’s subscription. It then claims a 15% commission for subsequent years.

Secure messaging app Telegram files antitrust complaint against Apple in EU

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Telegram logo
Telegram adds its voice to the chorus of developers complaining about Apple.
Photo: Telegram

Popular secure messaging app Telegram filed a formal antitrust complaint with the European Union over App Store practices, the Financial Times reports.

In a complaint addressed to EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager, Telegram’s creators argue that Apple must “allow users to have the opportunity of downloading software outside of the App Store.”

Apple once considered increasing App Store commissions to 40%

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app-store
Back in 2011, Eddy Cue suggested charging some developers significantly more than current 30% fee.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s 30% commission on certain apps is one of the main areas Apple CEO Tim Cook was grilled on during Wednesday’s U.S. House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee hearing.

However, according to internal emails revealed as part of the inquiry, Apple previously considered increasing its cut from 30% to 40% in some cases.

Plugable’s very affordable HDMI adapter connects your Mac and TV [Review]

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Plugable USB-C to HDMI Adapter review
Using an external display with a MacBook is a breeze with the Plugable USB-C to HDMI Adapter.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

MacBooks don’t have HDMI ports, but the Plugable USB-C to HDMI Adapter makes it easy to connect your laptop to an external monitor. Even better, this accessory is inexpensive and very portable.

I tested the adapter for work, watching video, and playing games. Here’s how it held up.

Tim Cook mostly avoids grilling during historic congressional antitrust hearing

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Tim Cook answers questions about App Store business practices.
Things didn't get too hot during Tim Cook's virtual visit to Capitol Hill.
Photo: C-SPAN

Apple CEO Tim Cook mostly avoided questioning during Wednesday’s historic congressional antitrust hearing on the business practices of Big Tech.

Cook took only a handful of questions from the House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee. Lawmakers directed most of their questioning — which capped a year-long investigation into antitrust issues — at Cook’s fellow CEOs from Facebook, Google and Amazon.

What to expect from Apple’s pandemic-afflicted earnings report

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Apple Q3 2020 earning results come out July 30.
Apple Q3 2020 earnings were almost certainly pushed up by the iPhone SE and weighed down by COVID-19.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

When Apple reports its fiscal third-quarter earnings Thursday, the world will learn how the company is doing in the middle of a global pandemic.

Analysts predict a drop in revenue. But Apple itself previously said it’s seeing an increase in Mac and iPad sales. And investors have pushed the stock up almost 30% this year.

How to disable automatic picture-in-picture on iPhone and iPad

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How to watch YouTube in picture-in-picture
Enjoy complete control of PiP yourself.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Picture-in-picture (PiP) makes it easier to watch videos while you do other things on iPhone (with iOS 14) and iPad. But it can begin to get annoying when every video you close ends up in a PiP window.

Here’s how to disable automatic picture-in-picture so that you have complete control over when it’s used.

States push on with probe into Apple’s iPhone throttling

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iPhone battery
The news of “Batterygate” broke in 2017, but some states are supposedly still investigating.
Photo: iFixit

The Attorney General of Arizona is reportedly looking into Apple’s practice of slowing down the performance of older iPhones to preserve battery life.

Apple admitted it was doing this back in 2017, and gave users control of if and when it happens. But the investigation by the Arizona AG goes on.

Google One offers free online backups to iPhone users

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iPhone and Google One together again for the very first time.
Automatic backups to Google One are coming soon for iPhone users.
Photo: Google

Google on Wednesday committed to a free iOS app that lets iPhone users automatically back up photos, videos, contacts and calendar events. This goes into the 15GB of free storage offered by this company.

This will compete with a service offered by Apple to do the same.

How to fix Wi-Fi and Bluetooth interference on a Mac

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Fix Wi-Fi interference on a Mac
Don't settle for a slow and unstable connection.
Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

If your Mac is struggling to maintain a stable Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection, it could be because of wireless interference. The good thing is that there are many different things you can do to eliminate this problem.

In this guide, we’ll detail how you can identify wireless interference, and some of steps you can take to prevent it from causing problems in the future. The tips also can prove useful for iOS devices.

Tim Cook says Apple treats devs fairly in ‘street fight for market share’

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Tim Cook answers questions about App Store business practices during the House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee hearing.
Tim Cook answers questions about App Store business practices.
Photo: C-SPAN

Apple CEO Tim Cook defended App Store business practices and said his company treats all software developers equally as he faced questioning Wednesday in front of the House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee.

Cook said it’s in Apple’s best interest to treat devs fairly. The company wants the best and brightest to write iOS apps, he said, because killer software proves essential for a company engaged in a “street fight for market share in the smartphone business.”

Play classic 1990s games with a fully functional Mac OS 8 emulator

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Mac OS 8 emulator
Return to the thrilling days of yesteryear with a Mac OS 8 emulator loaded with games from the 1990s.
Photo: Felix Rieseberg

Anyone wanting a serious dose of nostalgia should install a just-released emulator of a classic Apple desktop computer running Mac OS 8, first released in 1997. There’s even a bunch of games and productivity applications from the same era.

Spotify hits 138 million paying subscribers

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Spotify iPhone
Spotify continues to go from strength to strength.
Photo: Cezar Sampaio/Unsplash CC

Spotify’s Q2 earnings showed largely positive growth, although the streaming music giant suffered a 21% decline in ad revenue and a 48% rise in operating costs due to deals like its $100 million licensing deal for The Joe Rogan Experience.

Total monthly active users on the platform grew to 299 million, while paid subscribers increased to 138 million. Apple Music, which does not operate a free listening tier (outside of Beats 1 radio), last reported 60 million paid subscribers in June 2019 when it had passed 60 million.

Achieve total command of your business spending and revenue with this QuickBooks sale [Deals]

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Quickbooks
Score powerful tools for your small business to track bill status, record payments, and other accounting tasks, all in one app.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Running a small business comes with tons of stress and complexity. So why spend more time and energy than you need to on bills, payments and other accounting headaches? With QuickBooks, you don’t have to.

Universal will sell digital movies just weeks after their theatrical debut

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Some analysts think Apple should snap up a movie studio. Bad idea!
Or you could watch them from the comfort of your own home.
Photo: Naoya Fujii/Flickr CC

A new deal means that movie fans won’t be waiting as long to see Universal Pictures movies pop up for sale on iTunes and other digital platforms after their theatrical debut.

According to a Wall Street Journal article, an agreement between theater chain AMC Entertainment and Universal means that the theatrical exclusivity window will be cut from 75 days to just 17 days. This means certain titles will be available after just 2.5 weeks after they first arrived in theaters.

The good, the bad, and the Wario: Mario Kart Tour goes to the Wild West

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Mario Kart Tour
Mario Kart Tour is going west.
Photo: Nintendo

Get ready for some high plains drifting because Mario Kart Tour is headed west. To the Wild West, more precisely!

Having travelled all over the world in previous updates, the mobile-focused version of Mario Kart is now going back in time to frontier country with its latest update. And it’s brought some appropriately themed characters along for the ride over yonder.

Read Tim Cook’s opening remarks for his antitrust testimony Wednesday

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Tim Cook
Far from gatekeepers, Tim Cook will argue that Apple is opening doors.
Photo: Apple

Apple CEO Tim Cook will argue that his company does not dominate any market in which it does business when he appears before the House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee Wednesday, according to his opening statement released ahead of time (.pdf).

While Cook will say that “scrutiny is reasonable and appropriate,” he will assert that Apple refuses to make “concession on the facts” by agreeing that it is a monopoly. If anything, Cook will argue that Apple is no gatekeeper, but, through the App Store, has actually opened the gate to developers.

Congress, keep your mitts off the App Store. It’s fine. [Opinion]

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Apple exec Phil Schiller calls the App Store a good deal for devs. That's just one of the reasons Apple deserves a fair commission for powering the App Store.
Apple exec Phil Schiller calls the App Store a good deal for devs. That's just one of the reasons Apple deserves a fair commission for powering the App Store.
Photo: Globovisión/Flickr CC

When Apple CEO Tim Cook takes questions from Congress on Wednesday, he’ll surely get an earful of software developers’ complaints about how the App Store operates. Chief among the criticisms will likely be the fact that Apple charges a percentage of revenue earned from in-app sales.

There’s not a bit of justification for any of these highly publicized complaints. They come from companies that want to have their cake and eat it, too.

The Morning Show leads Apple TV+ to 19 Emmy nominations

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New video take viewers behind-the-scenes of The Morning Show
Both Jennifer Aniston and Steve Carell received Emmy nominations for their work on Apple TV+’s The Morning Show.
Photo: Apple

Apple TV+ earned 19 Emmy Awards nominations, including several for The Morning Show, a star-studded drama that was a highlight of the streaming service’s launch last autumn.

That’s not bad for the first year of eligibility for Apple TV+. However, Netflix totally dominated the 72nd annual Emmy Awards nominations, which were revealed Tuesday by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The world’s biggest streamer took home an astonishing 160 Emmy noms. HBO limited series Watchmen scored the most nominations of any single series with 26.