📨 The Weekly Download #30: DOJ is suing Apple 🍎

Welcome to KnowTechie’s Weekly Download. We find you the tech stories you probably may have missed - no one’s perfect. We also throw in some extra goodies along the way. If this email was forwarded to you, click here to subscribe. Missed an issue? Here's an archive of past newsletters.`

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Saturday night! Hey all - welcome to another edition of KnowTechie’s Weekly download. There’s much to cover, so let’s jump into it.

This week’s newsletter features Apple absolutely getting the cold end of the stick with an onslaught of negative press.

Hits include getting sued by the DOJ and the rumors of some AI partnership with Google because they obviously didn’t get the memo about AI being a thing.

And yes, we will kick off a new segment of “Elon Musk Said What?! this week?” Alright, let’s get to it.

Here’s what you can expect from today’s newsletter

🍎 The "App Tracking Transparency" feature was introduced with the release of iOS 14.5, which officially rolled out on April 26, 2021.

🫣 Apple's "App Tracking Transparency" feature gives users the power to allow or block apps from tracking their activity across other apps and sites.

🪦 This change may lead to less personalized ads and could prompt a rethink in how free services are funded.

DoJ sues Apple, alleging illegal smartphone monopoly exploitation

The US Department of Justice has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple, accusing the tech giant of operating an illegal monopoly in the smartphone market - The Verge

📱 The laundry list of accusations essentially boils down to Apple making it harder for anyone else to have a slice of the smartphone pie. Because why share if you don’t have to?

💰 The government cries foul over Apple squeezing everyone for extra change, claiming it’s all in the name of harming consumers and stifling competition. Classic corporate playbook.

📉 Framed as a David versus Goliath battle, this lawsuit might as well be a rerun in the saga of big government versus big tech. Spoiler: Don’t expect quick results.

⚖️ As the tech landscape braces for a standoff, this case might just end up as another footnote in the annals of corporate America, where giants play and the status quo hums on, only to shift the battlefield.

Our take: Expect grandiose legal battles, hefty fees doled out to legions of lawyers, and in the end, potentially, just a slightly rephrased version of business as usual.

X's daily active users decline, falling behind social media rivals

So, a year after Elon Musk swooped in and scooped up X, it looks like things are kind of rough. Technical snags, upset users, and other apps coming on strong has put X in a bind. They've tried to shake things up by dialing back on rules and getting controversial peeps on board, and even changed

📉 X, the app formerly known as Twitter purchased by Elon Musk, is seeing a decline in daily users, down 18% in the US from last year.

🟥 Compared to social media rivals like Instagram and TikTok focusing on video, X is far behind in user numbers.

🔻 According to research by Sensor Tower, X mobile app has a noteworthy decline in active users compared to its peers, potentially due to user frustration over content, technical issues, and competition from short-format video platforms.

😤 Under Musk's ownership, X has loosened content moderation rules, paving way for figures such as conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, instigating discussions over flagrant content.

💸 A decline in advertisers adds to X's challenges as top US advertisers cease advertising, potentially in response to Musk's negative comments.

🔄 Musk is urging increased participation with his 177 million followers to boost platform usage. At the same time, X shifts its business model from being predominantly ad-supported to a tiered subscription service.

🚀 While facing competition from new platforms like Threads, X lacks a solid alternative for clear text-based social media, keeping it afloat amid declines.

Neuralink reveals first human-trial patient, a 29-year-old quadriplegic who says brain chip is 'not perfect' but has changed his life

Elon Musk's company, Neuralink, just ran its first brain-chip trial with a human! The dude's name is Noland Arbaugh, and even though he's a quadriplegic, he says that Neurallink has seriously upgraded his life. Yeah, there's a bunch of talk about Neuralink testing on monkeys, but putting that aside, this could be a major leap forward in how we interact with tech.

🧠 On a live chat over on X, Noland shared that while the chip isn’t exactly flawless, it’s been a game-changer for him, literally letting him play video games without needing any hands.

🎓 Since 2016, the brains at Neuralink have been cooking up this tech that might one day let us control our gadgets just by thinking about it.

🚀 Musk made waves back in January when he dropped the news that a human had actually gone ahead and had this chip planted in their head'.

♟️ During his screen time, Arbaugh showed off a game of chess with the chip and said controlling it felt kind of like hacking into ‘The Force’ from Star Wars.

🎮 The only bummer so far? Noland says the chip needs a break to charge after a while. That said, it’s gotten him back into 'Civilization VI,' a game he thought he’d lost to his condition.

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Instagram just limited the political content you see. You can change that.

1. 📱 Instagram has introduced options to limit political content for users. 🗳️🔒

2. ⚙️ Users noticed that their default settings were set to limit political content. 🔄🏷️

3. 🔎 To control this, users can navigate to "content preferences" in the settings. 🎛️✔️

4. 🚫 This feature impacts Explore, Reels, Feed Recommendations, and Suggested Users but not the content from followed accounts. 🔄❗

5. 💡 The move aligns with Instagram's goal of respecting each person's appetite for political content. 📌🔔

GM faces lawsuit for sharing driver data, cuts ties with brokers

GM suddenly grew a conscience about privacy! After happily peddling your driving data to data brokers like it was nothing more than spare parts inventory. Keep in mind that they’re doing this only after being sued and exposed for doing this.

AT&T still doesn’t know how 73M of its customer data was hacked

The public leak of 73 million AT&T customers' personal information whose source has yet to be confirmed but is speculated to have either originated from AT&T or third-party processors.

1. 📚 Personal data of 73M AT&T customers leaked online.📂🔓

2. 👤 The breach dated back to a hacker's claim in 2021. 🕵️‍♀️💾

3. 📡 AT&T denies the data originated from their systems. 🛡️🔍

4. 🧩 Origin of the breach remains a mystery. ❓🌐

5. 🕰️ No significant progress in investigation years later. ⌛🔮

Google starts testing content it stole from crawled websites into main Google search interface

Some users who do not opt into the Google Search Labs SGE feature may see AI overview answers in the search results, regardless if they want it or not. Kinda bullshit if you ask me.

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We've got another humdinger of a giveaway to follow the one we announced just last week. Thanks to the good folks at Grenco Science, they’re hooking up KnowTechie readers with $1,000 in cannabis tech products. Don't let this opportunity go up in smoke; it's a hit you won't want to miss.

How to get Xbox Game Pass on the Steam Deck

Alright, just a heads up

The virtual keyboard is quite fiddly, making the process more time-consuming. So, if you have a keyboard to hand, I’d definitely recommend using it.

🔑 Use a physical keyboard for easier setup.

🖥️ Switch to Desktop Mode:

• Hold the power button and select "Switch to Desktop".

🌐 Install Microsoft Edge:

1. Find "Discover" on the desktop.

2. Search for "Microsoft Edge" in Web Browsers or use the search bar.

➕ Add Edge to Steam Library:

• Open Steam in desktop mode.

• Click "Add a Game" > "Add a Non-Steam Game".

• Select "Microsoft Edge".

🔧 Launch Konsole:

• Press the Application Launcher button (Steam Deck logo).

• Search for and open "Konsole".

• Type the command: flatpak --user override --filesystem=/run/udev:ro com.microsoft.Edge.

⚙️ Update MS Edge Launch Options:

• In Steam, right-click "Microsoft Edge" then click "Properties".

• Go to "Launch Options".

• Add the following: --window-size=1024,640 --force-device-scale-factor=1.25 --device-scale-factor=1.25 --kiosk "https://www.xbox.com/play".

📋 Copy-paste code for accuracy.

🔄 Backup Parameters:

• Copy current parameters into a document before making changes for safekeeping.

🎉 Now enjoy Xbox games on your Steam Deck! 🎉

Ensuring everything is set up correctly for the best Xbox gaming experience.

Dive deeper here: How to get Xbox Game Pass on the Steam Deck