Tech
Facebook says it has 'no choice' but to comply with Apple privacy feature – AppleInsider
Facebook is continuing its campaign against a planned Apple privacy feature in 2021, but told businesses in an email that it has “no choice” but to comply with the iOS 14 change.
The feature in question makes a type of advertiser tracking explicitly opt in for users. Facebook has launched a full campaign against the feature, including full-page newspaper ads claiming that it could hurt small- and medium-sized businesses.
In an email sent to Facebook business users seen by iMore, the social media giant continued that campaign, stating that the opt-in prompt would have “hard-hitting implications across targeting, optimization, and measuring campaign effectiveness for businesses that advertise on mobile devices and across the web.”
“Apple’s changes will benefit them, while hurting the industry and the ability for businesses of all sizes to market themselves efficiently and grow through personalized advertising,” Facebook continued. “We believe that personalized ads and user privacy can coexist.”
While Facebook says it disagrees with the privacy feature, it told business users that it has “no choice” but to adopt the prompt. It added that if it doesn’t comply, it could risk removal from the App Store.
In the coming weeks, Facebook says it will offer more guidance and advice to help businesses prepare for the coming change. If users do opt out of advertiser tracking, Facebook said, it could result in “potentially reduced ad effectiveness and limitations on measurement.”
Previously, Facebook estimated that the feature could see advertising revenue drop by as much as 60%.
Initially planned for a launch in iOS 14, Apple delayed implementation of the anti-tracking prompt until 2021 to give businesses and advertisers more time to prepare for the feature.
Although some businesses reliant on advertising — including Facebook — have rallied against the feature, some privacy groups and organizations have praised Apple for its implementation.
Mozilla, the maker of Firefox, launched a campaign thanking Apple for protecting privacy. Digital civil rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation praised Apple for implementing the feature and called Facebook’s campaign against it “laughable.”
A report from December also indicated that there is some internal disagreement about the anti-Apple campaign within Facebook. Some employees reportedly believe that Facebook’s attacks are unjustified and could backfire on the social media giant.
The anti-tracking transparency feature is slated for release in early 2021, though an exact date isn’t currently clear.
Apple has probably stopped production of its poorly-received FineWoven cases for the iPhone, but a new report from the same herald of its death says there is one last set of seasonal colorways coming.
Now according to leaker Kosutami, who first reported the cancellation, there could still be one more push for the FineWoven cases.
Pressed on the rumor, Kosutami emphasizes later in the same thread that if this is correct, it will be for only one more season. It’s now almost eight months since the launch of the iPhone 15 range, so it’s unlikely that there is to be a new mid-cycle color of the iPhone, but perhaps there can yet be new colors for the FineWoven cases.
Consequently, this rumor can at best be said to be possible, especially if Apple had already committed resources to the new colors. However, since FineWoven has proven to be startlingly poor at stain resistance or even just durability, it’s more believable that it is gone for good than it is that FineWoven will get a last hoorah.
Facebook parent company Meta today announced the upcoming expansion of Meta Horizon OS, a virtual and augmented reality operating system that will be available to third-party hardware manufacturers that want to design their own headsets.
Right now, Meta sells the Quest line of headsets, but the company wants to provide the software for third-party VR and AR products in the future, much like Microsoft offers Windows for all manner of third-party PCs.
Meta Horizon OS is the mixed reality operating system that Meta created for its own Quest headsets, and it has support for eye, face, hand, and body tracking along with passthrough, spatial anchors, scene understanding, and other features. There is a “social layer” that will allow the identities, avatars, and friends of users to move between virtual spaces on different devices.
According to Meta, multiple companies are working on devices that will use Meta Horizon OS. ASUS ROG is developing a performance gaming headset and Lenovo is working on mixed reality devices for productivity, learning, and entertainment. Meta says that it is also creating a limited edition version of Meta Quest in partnership with Xbox.
With the expansion of Meta Horizon OS to third-party hardware manufacturers, Meta is making it easier for any developer to ship VR software on the platform by removing barriers between the Horizon Store and App Lab.
By creating an operating system that can be used by other hardware manufacturers, Meta is inserting itself into the growing AR/VR ecosystem and creating opportunities for it to outpace Apple in mixed reality development. Apple launched the Vision Pro headset earlier this year, but software is lacking given the high price and limited distribution of the device.
According to a report from earlier today, interest in the Vision Pro is already waning at Apple’s retail locations with fewer people requesting demos.
There have been more launches in the past two weeks than any other two-week period I can remember since I started sweeping floors at Freedom Bike Shop back in 2001. Yes, that means I’m very old. It also means that after several years of delayed product releases, some brands have finally cleared out enough inventory to share what they’ve been working on.
The Pinkbike team came down to Sea Otter this year with mixed expectations, and there were definitely some weird vibes. Everyone is concerned for the remaining Kona employees, and more than one brand expressed that their plan is to #surviveto2025. But overall we loved catching up with everyone, the weather was great, and somehow there was even more gear to cover. The industry might be going through a tough time, but ultimately riding bikes is still ridiculously fun and bike tech is as interesting as ever.
And on that note, here are a few of the random things that caught my eye during the show.
OutsideBrendan works smarter not harder, and dog Bubbie(?) is awesome.
I mistakenly thought it was a garage project kind of thing, but it’s a real brand with a promo video and everything.
And with that, it’s time to face my expense report. Until next year, Sea Otter!
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