| Cult of Mac

iOS 15 asks for your permission to show personalized ads in Apple apps

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Personalized ads popup in iOS 15
This is what you'll see when you open the App Store.
Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Apple will ask iPhone and iPad users for their permission to show personalized ads within its own apps in iOS and iPadOS 15.

A new popup appears when opening the App Store for the first time after installing one of Apple’s latest betas. It says personalized ads “help you discover apps, products and services that are relevant to you.”

Apple News program takes smaller cut of publishers’ revenue

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Apple News program takes a smaller cut of publishers’ revenue
It’ll cost publishers a bit less to participate in Apple News.
Photo: Apple

A new Apple News Partner Program allows subscription news publications to provide their content to the Apple News app while paying a lower than usual share of the revenue coming from customers. Companies that choose to participate will have to give Apple 15% of subscription fees in the first year — half the usual amount.

This move is apparently in response to complaints from big publications about Apple’s cut.

Apple plans podcasts, training and exercise sessions for Women’s History Month

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Apple plans podcasts, training and exercise sessions for Women’s History Month
For Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, Apple will call attention to female voices that drive culture and change.
Image: Apple

Apple will highlight the contributions of women to society in many ways during Women’s History Month, including suggesting relevant outstanding books, podcasts and apps. It also plans virtual Today at Apple sessions led by female creators.

Plus, there’ll be an International Women’s Day Apple Watch Activity Challenge for March 8, and there’ll be other ways of observing this day.

Read all about it! News apps get nice Inauguration Day bump on App Store

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Joe Biden
Biden is the new President -- and a big Apple News guy, to boot.
Photo: The White House

With a new president installed, this has been a big week for the United States — and, to paraphrase Billy Madison, news app are reaping all the benefits.

According to a new report by top app analytics platform Sensor Tower, news apps in the App Store received a nice Inauguration Day bump. Three of the big winners were CNN‘s news app, aggregator News Break, and Newsmax. They respectively jumped 530, 13, and 43 spots in the App Store rankings.

President-elect Biden is a big Apple News guy

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Joe Biden
The face of a man who loves his Apple News.
Photo: The White House

Barack Obama, the last Democratic POTUS, was reportedly a big Apple fan. And his successor, President-elect Joe Biden, is supposedly an Apple guy as well — more specifically Apple News.

Evan Osnos, CNN’s newest contributor and author of Joe Biden: The Life, The Run, and What Matters Now, says Biden “relies on Apple News to help him get headlines from … reputable media sources.”

News publishers want Apple to give them a better deal for App Store subscriptions

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‘The New York Times’ kicked Apple News to the curb
New York Times and others are pushing back against App Store commissions.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Several major news outlets are throwing their hats into the ring with Epic Games and others in pushing back against Apple’s App Store commission.

According to the Wall Street Journal, a trade body that represents the New York Times, Washington Post, WSJ and other publishers has sent a letter to Tim Cook asking for better terms for digital subscriptions sold through the App Store.

Wall Street Journal won’t bail on Apple News

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The Wall Street Journal is staying put with Apple News
The Wall Street Journal sees multiple benefits from being part of Apple News.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

In the wake of The New York Times quitting Apple News, the head of News Corp. says that The Wall Street Journal isn’t leaving the news service that’s built into iOS and macOS.

Apple News Today is an Apple News+ promo disguised as a peppy news podcast [Review]

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Apple News Today review: A daily news podcast with zero partisan rage.
Apple News Today is a news podcast with zero partisan rage.
Photo: Lewis Wallace/Cult of Mac

Apple News Today, the breezy new podcast showcasing the day’s top news stories, sounds perfectly peppy and polished. Maybe too perfectly polished, in fact — you won’t find a single rough edge on this slickly produced daily news report, which Apple unleashed last week with iOS 13.6. You will endure no energized, partisan rants, either. These straight-down-the-middle reports won’t get your blood boiling while you make your morning coffee or tea. If you’re tired of partisanship, this is the antidote.

What you will find in the weekday audio show is steady promotion of the Apple News app, and of Apple News+, the company’s reportedly struggling subscription news service. This upbeat and earnest free daily news briefing basically functions as a Trojan horse for getting in the ears of potential Apple News+ subscribers.