The Senate is holding a hearing right now on Apple and Google's power over apps.

Apple's Kyle Andeer just gave some misleading testimony. He said Apple's commission is "almost always" 15% -- not 30%.

Yet: 95% of Apple's app revenue comes from developers that pay the 30% rate.
To be sure: 98% of apps that pay a commission are subject to the lower rate. But nearly all of the money Apple earns on the app store comes from larger companies paying the higher rate.
Tile's general counsel just testified that Apple would not let Tile use basic "ultra-wideband" technology in in iPhones that would've helped Tile's devices find lost items.

Yesterday, Apple released competing devices that use that technology to help people find lost items.
And here's a holy-shit stat: Match Group said app store fees are its single largest expense and will soon exceed $500 million a year. That's about a fifth of its total sales.
"There are many, many ways they could hurt our business," Match's Jared Sine testified about Apple and Google. "We're all afraid is the reality, senator. We're fortunate you're listening to us today."

"Well," replied @SenAmyKlobuchar. "I hope the Justice Department is, too."
Match's Jared Sine testified that Google called Match last night after his planned testimony became public.

@SenBlumenthal called that intimidation and said the Senate Judiciary Committee would investigate.

Google's Wilson White said Google wouldn't intimidate.
.@SenBlumenthal accused Apple of copying @TheTileApp's products with its new AirTags device.

Apple's Kyle Andeer responded: "We always create something different and special and unique."

Here are Tile's trackers. Here are Apple's. They essentially do the same thing.
Apple's Kyle Andeer: "We do not favor ourselves in search."

The New York Times: "If you searched for 'podcast' in May 2018, you would have had to scroll through as many as 14 Apple apps before finding one made by another publisher." nytimes.com/interactive/20…
The hearing is over. Here's a video replay and the opening statements for anyone who's interested: judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/antit…

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More from @jacknicas

16 Mar
One year ago, it was the final night before the nation's first effective coronavirus lockdown in California.

So I went to my local bar, the Hatch, and have been following it since.

A year later, we check back in and -- surprise! -- the news is good.
nytimes.com/2021/03/16/tec…
You might recall our first look at the Hatch and its staff three months into the pandemic.

At the time, things were dark. The cook was running out of money, the undocumented cleaner had cancer, and Pancho, the owner, wasn't sure the bar would survive.
nytimes.com/2020/06/11/bus…
In the fall, The Daily broadcast a 45-minute episode on the Hatch.

Listeners and readers responded with $75,000 in donations. The money helped the Hatch survive a second lockdown in December and enabled Maria, the cancer-stricken cleaner, to pay her rent. nytimes.com/2020/12/28/pod…
Read 6 tweets
21 Jan
Two members of Congress, @RepAnnaEshoo & @Malinowski, just sent well-researched letters to the CEOs of Facebook, Google, YouTube and Twitter, urging them to fix their algorithms that promote conspiracy theories and push people to political extremes.

The letters to FB and Google:
And here's the letter to @jack:
Some of us have shouted this for years, so this sentence from Congress is refreshing:

The algorithms sort and spread "information to users by feeding them the content most likely to reinforce their existing political biases, especially those rooted in anger, anxiety and fear."
Read 4 tweets
10 Jan
Breaking: Apple just pulled the Parler app.

Apple said Parler is allowing too many posts that encourage violence and crimes. This follows a similar move from Google yesterday.

Parler was one of the fastest-growing apps in the U.S., but now its future is in question.
Here's our full story: nytimes.com/2021/01/09/tec…
For those asking: If you already have Parler on your iPhone, it's not going away. This will stop new people from downloading it.

It also stops Parler from updating its app, which means that the versions already on iPhones will soon be obsolete as Apple updates iOS.
Read 11 tweets
6 Jan
Today's attempted coup in Congress began with Trump saying "If you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore," and then telling the crowd to head to the Capitol to give Republican lawmakers the message.
Don't forget the president's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, calling for "trial by combat" moments before.
And then there was @RepMoBrooks, the Republican congressman from Alabama, shouting to the crowd: "Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass!"
Read 4 tweets
8 Dec 20
Remember when Trump fell for a fake account posing as his sister? (If not: He did.)

Well, I figured out who was behind it: a 21-year-old DoorDash driver and Trump supporter in Mechanicsburg, Penn.

And hoo boy, it's quite a tale.
nytimes.com/2020/12/08/tec…
First, let's recap that, yes, the United States president was duped by someone posing online as his own sister.

Here is his tweet.

The article he's sharing is about a fake Twitter account posing as his older sister, Elizabeth Trump Grau.
I wrote about it. Then I got to work figuring out who was behind the fake.

Eventually it was pretty clear: a 21-year-old Trump supporter named Josh Hall. So I called him up -- and he fessed up.

“I was like, ‘Oh, my goodness. He actually thinks it’s his sister,’” he recalled.
Read 9 tweets
20 Nov 20
So President Trump just shared a story about his sister supporting him and wrote “Thank you Elizabeth, LOVE!”

And then when you click through to the article ... it was based on tweets from a parody account of his sister.
The account alleging to be his sister, @TheBettyTrump, only shows a record of tweets starting yesterday.

These are some of its posts since then.
Here is the president‘s original tweet.
Read 6 tweets

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