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Spotify for Podcasters Comes Out of Beta

Charlotte Henry ·

Spotify took its podcasters dashboard out of beta Tuesday, The Verge reported. It aims to give podcasters useful data as it establishes itself as a podcasting platform.

Podcasters have long lacked data about their listeners, which poses problems when they’re trying to sell ads. Spotify is uniquely qualified to give podcasters that data because every Spotify user requires an account to listen, where they’ve provided basic demographic data about themselves, as well as their music listening habits. Nothing about the dashboard will change when it comes out of beta, although Hellman says it’ll be refined over time as podcasters respond to the product. The idea is to mirror Spotify for Artists, the dashboard it provides for musicians, but optimized for podcasters.

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Dark Mode For Facebook App on The Way

Charlotte Henry ·

Dark mode for Facebook’s main app appears to be close. A researcher found the company is testing it for the Android version of the app, CNet reported. Surely an iOS version will follow too?

Reliable researcher Jane Manchun Wong found that Facebook is testing a darker color scheme on the Android version of its app. However, she noted that this feature seems to be in an “early stage of development” — it’s only appearing on the app’s Groups tab with some dark text displaying against a dark background, making it tough to read. So it might be a while before Facebook’s mobile dark mode gets a wide rollout.

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What Happens When Apple Locks You Out of the Ecosystem?

Andrew Orr ·

Luke Kurtis shares his story of how Apple disabled his account after he unknowingly bought a fraudulent iTunes gift card. Although he eventually got his account restored, it took two months to get it back.

Had I not taken advantage of my internal Apple contacts, I may not have gotten my account back. I spent a large part of those two months in a kind of grief, mourning not only the loss of a collection of media built up over a decade and a half, but also all the products I owned that no longer functioned as they were supposed to. The company I had given so much money to over the years could revoke my access to everything with just the press of a button.

That’s pretty scary stuff. Now that Apple Card is a product, imagine getting locked out of your account, unable to pay off your Card because there isn’t a way to do it online.

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Automattic Buys Tumblr for Pennies on the Dollar

Andrew Orr ·

Automattic, the company behind WordPress, just bought Tumblr from Verizon for less than US$3 million. Verizon had acquired the site from Yahoo for US$1.1 billion.

As part of the deal, Automattic will gain 200 staffers from Tumblr. Verizon is said to have discussed a sale of Tumblr with a handful of different companies but ultimately landed on Automattic. “The sale price isn’t material to Verizon,” today’s report says citing “people familiar with the matter.”

Before you get excited, know that the porn ban will remain in place.

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TMO Contributor Kelly Guimont - TMO Background Mode Interview

John Martellaro · · Add Comment

Kelly Guimont is a long-time podcaster, Contributing Editor for The Mac Observer, the host of the Mac Observer’s Daily Observations podcast, a tech support guru, and a Founding Volunteer of App Camp for Girls.

Kelly first appeared here in December, 2015 to tell her career story and has returned many times for interesting technical and media discussions. In her 7th appearance, we chat about our favorite TV shows of late. John: Anne With an “E” (Netflix) and Outlander (Netflix). Kelly: Good Omens (Amazon), Stranger Things S3 (Netflix), and Battestar Galactica (SyFy). Join us as we explore together what’s great about these shows. We also put in a good word for Chuck Joiner’s new podcast Trek Favorites.

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White House Drafts Order to Investigate Alleged Social Media Left-Wing Bias

Andrew Orr ·

The White House is drafting an executive order that would address alleged left-wing bias by social media companies, with an official saying:

If the internet is going to be presented as this egalitarian platform and most of Twitter is liberal cesspools of venom, then at least the president wants some fairness in the system. But look, we also think that social media plays a vital role. They have a vital role and an increasing responsibility to the culture that has helped make them so profitable and so prominent.

A WH official actually used the phrase “liberal cesspools of venom.” What a trashy administration.