| Cult of Mac

Ex-employees dish on why Instagram ‘Likes’ are dying

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Instagram's Twitter announcement on hiding likes
Instagram's announcement on hiding "Likes."
Screenshot: Instagram/Twitter

In hiding the number of “Likes” a post gets on Instagram, parent company Facebook is actually hiding another motivation for the grand experiment – making you post more.

Instagram said the hidden “Likes” test was one part of a strategy to reduce cyber-bullying. Removing the count would create a kinder, gentler experience and allow users to connect without the social pressure of feeling liked.

Apple News+ subscriber growth is stuck in neutral

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Some publishers report that Apple News+ isn't a 'huge boon' for business
Apple News+ hasn't been as big a hit as Apple hoped.
Photo: Apple

Apple News+ has been struggling to ramp up its subscriber numbers since launching in March, according to a new report that claims growth has been stuck in neutral for months.

News came out this morning that Apple is considering bundling services like Apple Music, Apple News+ and Apple TV+ together for a monthly fee. At this point, the company might need to do that to get more people onto the Apple News+ platform in order to make it worthwhile for publishers.

Tim Cook talks Facebook versus Sign in with Apple in new interview

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Sign in with Apple
"Sign in with Apple" is a new privacy feature in iOS 13.
Photo: Alfred Ng

Sign in with Apple might be the most underrated feature to come out of the WWDC 2019 keynote. A lot of analysts, including Cult of Mac founder Leander Kahkney, think it’s a big shot at Facebook. The social media giant has become one of the iPhone-maker’s favorite companies to hate on recently, but Apple CEO Tim Cook says the new feature isn’t targeting Facebook.

Trump’s tariffs may increase iPhone prices by 14%

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Apple shares suffer biggest decline since August
Apple shares suffer biggest decline since August
Photo: White House

Apple may soon be forced to raise iPhone prices if Donald Trump’s latest round of proposed tariffs on Chinese imports goes into effect.

Trump wants to slap tariffs on the remaining $300 billion worth of Chinese goods. The Office of U.S. Trade Representative began the approval process this week. Those tariffs could go into effect by June 24 and if that happens, some analysts predict Apple will raise iPhone prices by 14% or more to offset the costs.

Tim Cook explains why Apple isn’t a tech company anymore

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Tim Cook and Co. bring the hardware heat at The Brooklyn Academy of Music during the
Apple is now a consumer company.
Photo: Tim Cook

Apple CEO Tim Cook sounded absolutely ecstatic to count Warren Buffett as one of his company’s investors during an interview at Berkshire Hathaway’s shareholders meeting this morning.

Cook made a cameo in the company’s opening video — that also introduced Apple’s new Buffett-themed game — and sat down with CNBC to talk about his relationship with Warren, Apple’s culture, privacy and more.

Warren Buffett is skeptical of Apple’s entertainment play

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Buffett
Warren Buffet is Apple's biggest investor.
Photo: CNBC

Mega-investor Warren Buffett doesn’t sound too confident in Apple’s ability to dominate the entertainment industry.

The Oracle of Omaha said in a recent interview that there are so many big players trying to grab eyeballs in the streaming industry that he wouldn’t want to play that game himself. Even though he’s not gung ho on Apple’s TV service, he also doesn’t sound worried if Apple doesn’t knock it out of the park.

Spotify CEO does not fear Apple’s massive cash pile

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Spotify
Spotify is dominating audio streaming.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Spotify is making a push to cement its self as the best audio platform in the world. The company revealed today that it acquired two podcasting companies and that it plans to spend big on original audio content.

Despite growing competition from Apple, Amazon and YouTube, Spotify is inching closer to having 100 million paid subscribers. In an interview on CNBC this morning, Spotify CEO Daniel Elk didn’t sound worried one bit about Apple and Amazon spending tons of cash to beat Spotify.