Link

ProtonMail Users Get Free Storage, ProtonVPN Gets More Servers

Andrew Orr ·

Proton is giving users additional storage for ProtonMail at no extra cost, and added 53 additional ProtonVPN servers in 17 countries.

In these turbulent times, we’re reminded of the importance of community and solidarity. With this in mind, we wanted to do our part to help support both the Proton community and others around the world who need support to confront this crisis.

It’s great to see Proton do this. Since it mentions the experimental ProtonDrive product coming in the future, it sounds like this extra storage is permanent.

Link

Disney+ Now Has 50 Million Subscribers

Charlotte Henry ·

Disney+ has hit the 50 million subscriber mark in just five months, The Guardian reports. While this figure is impressive, it has been boosted not only by lockdowns around the world but by a number of offers from telecoms firms.

Disney+, which launched in the UK and most major western European markets last month, with hits including the Star Wars live action spin-off The Mandalorian, has signed up 50m subscribers just five months after launch. It took its rival, Netflix, which has more than 160 million subscribers, seven years to reach the same milestone after moving from DVD rental by post to streaming in 2007. Disney, which launched in Europe with lower streaming speeds to help ease the burden on broadband networks as millions are confined to their homes, last reported subscriber numbers on 3 February. At that time, just as the coronavirus started its rapid spread in China and beyond, Disney+ had 28.6 million subscribers.

Link

A Look at Amazon and Apple's New Relationship

Charlotte Henry ·

Last week, Apple quietly allowed Amazon Prime Video to start offering in-app purchases in a seeming loosening of App Store restrictions. It’s a fascinating move, one that Ben Thompson provides in-depth analysis of on Stratechery.

Both [Apple and Amazon], given their desire to be a platform for over-the-top services, are on the same side when it comes to a potential Netflix-dominated future: neither want it to happen. Netflix dominating means that shows are sold directly to Netflix; channels are pointless. Apple and Amazon both, though, want channels to exist, if only so that they can sell subscriptions to them.

Link

Twitter Took Away Your Ability to Stop Sharing Data With Advertisers

Andrew Orr ·

Twitter had a feature that users could enable that stopped the company from sharing certain data with advertisers. That feature is now gone.

An option in Twitter’s privacy settings called “Share your data with Twitter’s business partners” used to let you disable sharing of this information. That setting still exists, but Twitter now says it has removed your control over “mobile app advertising measurements.” Disabling the setting can still prevent sharing of other information, such as your interests. Other Twitter privacy settings, like disabling web tracking, are still available. Twitter will not share your name, email address, phone number, or username.

Link

Google Helps Apple Progress With One-Time Passcode Proposal

Charlotte Henry ·

A Google staffer and an Apple staffer have come together to make progress on Apple’s work to introduce one-time passcodes delivered in an SMS. AppleInsider looked into the latest developments.

Announced in an updated GitHub explainer, an initial report of Apple’s “Origin-bound one-time codes delivered via SMS” project was published by the WICG on April 2. The draft was co-edited by Theresa O’Connor from Apple and Sam Goto from Google. First proposed by Apple WebKit engineers and backed by Google in January, the initiative seeks to simplify the OTP SMS mechanism commonly used by websites, businesses and other entities to confirm login credentials as part of two-step authentication systems.