Apple Customer Satisfaction Scores 81 on ACSI Survey

The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) recently did an Apple customer satisfaction survey in which the company scored 81 out of 100. Other companies were included as well.

Following a 1% jump, Samsung moves into a first-place tie with Apple at 81 despite smartphone sales dropping for both companies…Apple’s iPhone X, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone SE all score 83…Customer experience shows little improvement over the last year. Cell phones are generally easy to use, with text messaging earning the top score at 85. Despite being the only area to improve year over year, battery life (78) finishes last among customer experience benchmarks.

It’s Not Just Apple: Antitrust Probe Aimed at Facebook, Google, More

It’s not just Apple anymore. A new antitrust probe launched by the House of Representatives examines Facebook, Google, and other tech giants.

“Big Tech plays a huge role in our economy and our world,” said Ranking Member Collins (R-GA). “As tech has expanded its market share, more and more questions have arisen about whether the market remains competitive. Our bipartisan look at competition in the digital markets gives us the chance to answer these questions and, if necessary, to take action. I appreciate the partnership of Chairman Nadler, Subcommittee Chairman Cicilline and Subcommittee Ranking Member Sensenbrenner on these important issues.”

Good to see that it’s a bipartisan probe.

Apple Thwarts Sensor Fingerprinting With iOS 12.2

A study called “SensorID: Sensor Calibration Fingerprinting for Smartphones” examined sensor fingerprinting techniques against smartphones. It found that Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) are inaccurate in small ways that make them unique. But Apple thwarted this technique in iOS 12.2 and used the researchers’ suggestion to add random noise to the analog-to-digital converter output and removing default access to motion sensors in Safari.

We demonstrate that our approach is very likely to produce globally unique fingerprints for iOS devices, with an estimated 67 bits of entropy in the fingerprint for iPhone 6S devices. In addition, we find that the accelerometer of Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 3 devices can also be fingerprinted by our approach.

YouTube Bans Minors From Streaming Unless an Adult is Present

In a blog post today, YouTube announced new policies when it comes to minors. YouTube bans minors from live streaming without an adult present, and comments on videos featuring minors have been disabled.

The vast majority of videos featuring minors on YouTube, including those referenced in recent news reports, do not violate our policies and are innocently posted — a family creator providing educational tips, or a parent sharing a proud moment. But when it comes to kids, we take an extra cautious approach towards our enforcement and we’re always making improvements to our protections.

WWDC19: Project Catalyst Could Help Revive Mac Gaming

Project Catalyst is Apple’s official name for what we now as Marzipan. It lets developers port iOS apps to the Mac. I think it can help revive Mac gaming, because presumably games will also be able to get ported. Apple Arcade will be available on macOS as well.

But the big news is clearly Catalyst. Details are still thin, and Apple will most likely share more information this afternoon during its State of the Union WWDC keynote.

EU to Speak to Apple About Spotify Complaint

The EU said it wanted to hear from Apple about Spotify’s complaint against it. The complaint is being handled by European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, reported Reuters.

“We are looking into that and we have been asking questions around in that market but of course also Apple themselves, for them to answer the allegations. And when they come back, we will know more,” Vestager told reporters on the sidelines of an OECD conference. Vestager, who three years ago ordered Apple to repay about 13 billion euros ($14.6 billion) in unfair tax incentives to Ireland, can levy hefty fines on companies for breaching EU antitrust rules and also order them to amend business practices.

Tune in Monday to The Mac Observer’s Live WWDC 2019 Blog

Apple’s WWDC 2019 event is on Monday, June 3. The Mac Observer will host a live blog where you’ll get a live play-by-play of the event, with our commentary and reactions, so bookmark it in your favorite browser 🙂

Dave: We’ll see you here Monday morning for our live play-by-play and helpful-but-sometimes-snarky commentary. Join us then!

You can also follow @MacObserverLive on Twitter.

Huawei Ban Could Lead to Drop in Global Phone Sales

Analyst’s Canalys reduced down their estimates for global smartphone shipments in a new report. AppleInsider reported that they now expect sales in 2019 to total 1.35 billion units. That is down 3.1% from the 1.39 billion units sold in 2018. The Huawei ban is a key factor in the drop in sales.

If found to be correct, the 2019 forecast would be a continuation of the industry’s decline, following a year-on-year contraction of 4.5 percent in 2018 from 2017. Canalys does not break down the figures to relate to specific companies, but in its post it spends a lot of time discussing Huawei, the main subject of the US measures. The firm’s base assumption will be that restrictions on Huawei will be «imposed stringently» once the 90-day reprieve expires, which will dramatically affect its ability to roll out new devices in the short term.

Pl@ntNet is a Social Network for Plant Lovers

First created in 2009, Pl@ntNet is a social network for plant lovers, as well as a plant identification app.

Once a user makes an identification (or marks the plant as unknown), they submit their photos to the Pl@ntNet community. Thousands of professional botanists and flora-philes scan the stream of new observations to verify a species, or suggest a new one. If a person confirms your observation, a little green “crowd” icon appears. Your score rises as more people validate your labels, although a few users are certified to train the algorithm without community validation.

I haven’t used this yet but I’ll definitely check it out. I also love iNaturalist. It’s not really a social network, but it can identify both plants and animals.