
Apple Special Event Livestream [video] - slater
https://www.apple.com/apple-events/livestream/
======
LukeWalsh
One highlight is that there's a heavy emphasis on private recommendations
inside the news app, including magazines (the app downloads a set of articles
and manages recommendations on-device). There was a slide "Apple doesn't know
what you read." Apple is doubling down on not giving data to advertisers.

~~~
dmix
Because they are charging a monthly fee to access it and don't need to sell
your data as a business model.

Not having to deal with advertisers has always been a gain of paying for
online services via subscription. Although some try to mix the two.

~~~
scarface74
Charging for magazine subscriptions hasn’t stopped publishers from selling
your information to advertisers before.

~~~
52-6F-62
Advertisements in News+ are included like they are in print magazines, mainly.

~~~
scarface74
Yes, but magazines publishers will sell your name, address, demographic
information to advertisers.

~~~
52-6F-62
They don't have access to that information through Apple News whatsoever.

------
gnicholas
> _Apple News is used to read 5 billion articles a month and is the number one
> news app...unbelievable!_ (paraphrasing)

Not really surprising at all, given that iOS pushes Apple News articles onto
the lock screen/notification center. I find it annoying and turned it off, but
I have noticed that many family members didn't know what it was exactly or how
to get rid of it (though they wanted to).

~~~
jahlove
It really is a much better product than Google's offering though. I don't know
what Google was thinking about when the killed the Google News app.

~~~
gnicholas
Sure, it's not a bad app. It's just a little odd to feign surprise that it's
the most popular news app, given how it's featured in iOS.

I do like the accessibility aspect of the app — it is the only big tech
company app that allows the user to change the text size on iOS. It is crazy
that this very basic usability/accessibility feature sets it apart from
offerings by Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo, but Apple News is the only one that
does this. [1]

One thing I don't like about Apple News is the way they do link sharing, which
for some reason is stickier than other link shorteners.

1: [https://medium.com/@BeeLineReader/the-importance-of-text-
acc...](https://medium.com/@BeeLineReader/the-importance-of-text-
accessibility-in-news-apps-45ac8cca2e9a)

~~~
jahlove
Agreed. The link sharing is lame. I also wish there was a Windows app (or
better yet, browser support).

~~~
gnicholas
Do you know exactly what is different that makes it work this way? All I know
is it doesn't work with the news reader app my startup makes. [1] Pocket seems
to have figured out how to sidestep the annoyingness, but I don't know how.

1: [http://www.beelinereader.com](http://www.beelinereader.com)

------
canuckintime
The most important question is not which subscription offerings or bundles
Apple will announce today, or if the content will be any good, but if they
will be mainly available on Apple's hardware or provided on other platforms.

Apple Music is available on iOS, Mac, Android and Windows (including in
Window's App Store) but that's partly due to the legacy of iTunes and
acquisition of Beats (which already had an Android app). There has been
encouraging signs in the past year as iTunes content has been made available
on more non-Apple platforms.

So I'll be watching closely during this for the availability of the Apple News
service. When Apple acquired Texture they kept the Android app alive but
immediately shut down the Windows 10 app. What will Apple do next with this
service?

~~~
wlesieutre
Their recent TV announcements are another big platform worth mentioning. Apple
TV app is coming to TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony, and Visio, along with Roku and
FireTV devices.

------
mullingitover
It's really annoying that neither Apple or Google let you completely block Fox
News. Both offer options that on the surface seem to block it. However, with
Apple News I blocked Fox and the page reloaded to "Trending Stories," and the
first thing was Fox News clickbait. Google News seems to block it, but when
you click through to any "Full Coverage" links, Fox News is back polluting the
feed.

~~~
scarface74
I’m no fan of Fox News but I like the fact that they don’t make it easy to be
in a filter bubble.

~~~
mullingitover
I have to spend irreplaceable moments of my life explaining to my own family
that vaccines won't cause autism. I'm well outside the filter bubble. Fox News
is like sewage, in that yes, I'm aware of its existence, but no, I don't want
it mixed in with things I consume daily.

~~~
scarface74
The little I’ve watched Fox News, while the opinion pieces are one sides and
dishonest and they do choose what not to cover and what to emphasize, I
haven’t seen any indications that they cover outright conspiracy theories.

Out of the conservative news sites though, I do find that RedState and the
Hill to be more honest.

~~~
drewrv
The certainly fanned the flames of Seth Rich conspiracy theories:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Seth_Rich#Fox_News_r...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Seth_Rich#Fox_News_retracted_reporting)

------
koolba
Paraphrasing comments from Tim Cook regarding Apple News:

> "Apple News is now the world's most popular news app ... Our editors pick
> the best source..."

That's both amazing (the rise to prominence) and scary (the inherent
centralized power).

~~~
59nadir
> That's both amazing (the rise to prominence) and scary (the inherent
> centralized power).

I don't know a single person that uses a "news app", so I'll take this feat
with a grain of salt.

~~~
scarface74
Yes because your anecdotal experience is statistically relevant....

~~~
59nadir
I wasn't speaking for all the world. I said I'll take it with a grain of salt.
Reading the news in general has obviously taken a huge hit in popularity and
doing so via a special app (outside of the community driven ones like Reddit)
is an even smaller part of the way people consume this media.

It's obvious from peoples' experience with Apple News in these comments that a
lot of content consumed from there is actually involuntary from widgets, etc..
What I took away from that quote is in line with that; this isn't really much
of a feat when dug deeper into.

------
maskedinvader
tl;dw; apple news+ (news subscription app for $9.99 / month) apple card
(credit card by apple backed by master card/goldman sachs) apple arcade
(gaming subscription with 100+ exclusive games, pricing TBD) apple tv channels
(all in streaming app having channels like hbo and starz, priced individually
per channel) apple tv+ (service that will carry Apple produced content)

------
scarface74
A physical credit card with no credit card number, cvv code, expiration date,
or signature? This is such a simple security idea that I’m surprised more
companies don’t do it.

~~~
lotsofpulp
The only reason they can do it is because they can display all that
information on Apple devices in a presumably secure enough way, which other
companies obviously can't.

------
jahlove
New York Times published a rare behind-the-scenes look at Apple News last
October. It's was pretty interesting. In a world where every company is trying
to create algorithms to automate everything, Apple is taking a more human
approach.

[https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/technology/apple-news-
hum...](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/technology/apple-news-humans-
algorithms.html)

~~~
save_ferris
On the flip side, NYT opted against joining Apple News, presumably on the 50%
cut that Apple is taking[0].

[0]: [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/20/technology/apple-news-
wal...](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/20/technology/apple-news-wall-street-
journal.html)

------
CoolGuySteve
It's been 10 years since I worked on live streaming for sports. Lets see if
it's finally happening. My guess is... meh.

~~~
ascagnel_
I've been using NHL.tv and MLB.tv for at least the last half-decade to watch
ice hockey and baseball, respectively. I've been looking at F1 TV for this
season, but haven't jumped in yet as there isn't an app for $STREAMING_BOX
(you have to send video from another device to get it onto your TV).

It's less a question of technology and more a question of business at this
point.

~~~
giarc
There is still technology issues with streaming. Take DAZN for example. They
are the provider of NFL streams and they started with a ton of issues with
quality of streams, to the point where it was unwatchable. They actually
refunded everyone a month's worth of service ($20) because it was so bad.

~~~
thirdsun
They had similar problems with their football (as in soccer) streams in europe
at the beginning. However to be fair they improved a lot since then and it's
pretty stable now. One has to consider that it's live and while I'm sure
Netflix or other big players would do a better job, being able to buffer makes
this much easier.

I think DAZN is an awesome package with lots of relevant content for a
football (soccer) enthusiast like me at a very fair price.

------
dreamcompiler
If Apple News is accessible by a browser, I might sign up. (If there's any
service that's perfect for HTML5 and CSS, it's news and magazines.) But if
Apple ignores the web and requires an app so they can show me an animated
magazine cover, I'll go on ignoring Apple News.

~~~
gnicholas
> _If there 's any service that's perfect for HTML5 and CSS, it's news and
> magazines._

There were rumors that the magazines in Apple News would be PDF-based. Fingers
crossed this is not the case, for so many reasons....

~~~
matthewmacleod
Which reasons?

~~~
egypturnash
PDFs don't reflow, for starters - have you ever tried reading a PDF of a book
on your phone? It's a miserable experience.

------
areoform
I was initially skeptical of Apple diversifying into services, but wow they
might have just created the next generation bank (I'm sure they'll become a
bank at some point). Their rewards scheme is simple and intuitive. Their
privacy features are amazing. They're solving the incomprehensible receipt
problem with more intuitive receipts that tags locations on your device and
then generate intuitive spending summaries.

The privacy features are even better. No one gets to mine your data, which is
incredible! And wow their new card just looks gorgeous and it might be the
most secure card ever. It is chip only so that means no more easy skimming and
there's no need to change/cancel card numbers when your purse goes missing.

This is the way of the future. Wow.

~~~
dreamcompiler
I like the idea too. But a bank card that doesn't work unless you own a device
that runs IOS is a non-starter.

~~~
rstupek
Not for 900 million people who do own an IOS device

~~~
kyriakos
Keep in mind apple pay is not available world wide yet

------
scarface74
My only real disappointment is that they didn't announce pricing for anything
besides Apple News+. I was hoping to see some type of bundled pricing that
included more iCloud storage.

Hopefully, with the games subscription, they will see the need for an updated
iPod Touch for kids and maybe even one with an iPhone 7/8 size screen. Even if
it is only slightly cheaper than the $329 iPad.

An iPod Touch plus a Disney+ subscription, plus a games subscription would be
the perfect thing for kids ("cue the outrage about using "electronic
babysitters")

------
ksec
>Family Sharing for Apple News+ with no extra cost

I thought that is wrong. While it is good value, a whole family reading it and
cost the same? I am very worried about publisher not getting what they need
for quality content.

That is your daughter reading on Gossip Magazine, Dad reading Financial Times,
and Mum Reading Fashion or something. It would have been better if it was
something like $24.99.

~~~
tinus_hn
So do you buy extra newspapers for your children too and toss yours in the
shredder when you’re done with them, so no one else accidentally shares them?

~~~
ksec
So your children read Financial News and your mum reads Golf Magazine or your
Dad reads Woman 's Fashion magazine?

How many of those can be shared? In terms of Interest.

Even a $19.99 would have made it a great deal for many.

------
40acres
I'll wait for the write ups but I'm excited to see what Apple's pivot to
services entails. I don't own a iPhone but definitely have been envious of
some of the services that are included with the Apple ecosystem. Apple's
reputation as a luxury tech company can definitely help them turn into a
services giant imo.

~~~
tinus_hn
It isn’t a pivot to services. They create their own services so they have
leverage. Now instead of being forced into bad agreements they can set the
terms.

Ultimately access to these services is limited enough that they’ll never
become a monopoly so in my opinion they are a great addition to the landscape.

------
westondeboer
First time that I can watch this in chrome!

------
gnicholas
Interesting that there's 2% rewards on Apple Pay purchases and 1% when you use
the physical card. What happens if you use it to make a purchase online?
Presumably that's 1%? It's not Apple Pay, after all (in almost all cases).

~~~
lotsofpulp
I can purchase online using Apple Pay. I'm assuming it requires using MacOS
and the seller has to enable it on their end too.

~~~
saagarjha
Only the purchaser enabling it and you using Safari.

------
joegahona
"There's never been an offer like this before"

Uh, yes there was. It was called Texture.

~~~
briandear
Texture didn't have newspapers did it?

------
dmix
"What you read in Apple News wont follow you on the web"

...but they said he was searching about Costa Rica and the news app
recommended a magazine article about that.

So, it's the inverse? What you do on the web will follow you into Apple News?

~~~
rstupek
It's being done on your device and not on the web by an external service

------
scarface74
Apple Arcade:

One subscription price for games with no in app purchases? That will sell a
millions of iPads and hopefully new iPod Touches for kids. But no pricing
information???

~~~
stiGGG
I bet they are waiting for Google telling some more about pricing on their
Stadia service. Apple Arcade has to be cheaper.

------
Shivetya
This event is an anti-trust Pinata, Apple Card is probably the most amazing
product introduced during the event.

~~~
koolba
There's nothing particularly amazing about Apple Card. The "rewards" aren't
special and your money is locked the Apple ecosystem unless you also link a
bank account (and then wait 1-3 days per external transfer).

I'll be impressed in a few years after they gain enough traction to release
their own payment network that totally sidesteps credit cards.

~~~
scarface74
The rewards are special because they aren’t obtuse. You can use the rewards to
pay on your credit card and you can use the physical credit cards anywhere.

------
danvoell
What is this supposed to be about?

~~~
empath75
apple's new streaming video and news services and maybe other stuff.

------
gnicholas
Apple News+: $9.99/mo with family sharing included for free. First month free.

------
JustSomeNobody
Hmm... I wonder if my NVidia Shield TV will get Apple TV app.

------
Rebelgecko
When did these start working on browsers other than Safari?

------
scarface74
The AppleTV app on Roku. I have two AppleTV 4K devices but I also have three
Roku TVs. I’m interested in trying it on them.

------
system2
$9.99 for full access news? Too good to be true. If everything I want is
there, I will be their customer forever.

~~~
p1esk
I must be missing something. Why would I want to pay for news? Before I used
to get my news from FF newsfeed. Then they discontinued it, and I realized I
don't miss it. Honestly, I'd rather look at HN frontpage whenever I have a
free minute.

~~~
scarface74
I’m sure you also haven’t owned a TV in 10 years and wonder why people still
watch TV....

Yes most people would rather get their news from HN.

~~~
lostlogin
It is a little baffling why people tolerate tv and the 10 mins of adverts per
hour. I used to, and I don’t get that either.

------
Phenomenit
This is rock bottom, Apple has become a loanshark. There's no innovation left.

~~~
scarface74
How so?

~~~
Phenomenit
It's just the trend I've observed that companies want to lend people money
even though they are not banks or creditcard companies because it's the
easiest why to make money without adding value.

So what I'm saying is that it's not a good sign that Apple is trying to become
a bank instead of making decent hardware/software.

~~~
scarface74
I’m not sure that Apple is making money off of the credit card besides the
usual merchant fees it gets from using Apple Pay. It seems like it is just
another branded card run by Goldman Sachs.

------
songco
Any hardware updates? I hope there’s new iPhone se.

~~~
gnicholas
The spate of hardware refreshes last week makes this unlikely. Perhaps the
Apple TV could be updated, but not the core hardware
(phones/tablets/computers/watches).

