FizzyPanda

I feel for the developer in regards to Apple’s poor developer communications and processes yet again.

However Apple is allowed to change their guidelines at any time and I think all developers by now should know if you choose to create a product which is really just a feature or extension of the OS, you are likely to get Sherlocked.

Some context from someone who live in the UK and knows people who worked in the digital NHS side of things.

In Jan of last year the UK GOV quickly started work on their own contact tracing app. This is well before Apple and Google had released their OS level contact tracing API. Just before Apple and Google released a beta of their APIs, the UK Gov had already progressed to the point where they had a working app. They decided to continue down this route having already committed resources and because they were concerned a delay could cost lives. They begun a trial on a small island just as Apple and Google released the first beta of their API. After a week or so it became clear it did not perform to the level they hoped and so they started looking at the Apple and Google API. They found in some cases their algorithms were more accurate than Apple and Google's. This got fed back to Apple and Google who later released an update to the API that improved its accuracy and reliability. At this point the UK contact tracing app was rebuilt on Apple and Google's API. So the UK Gov didn't purposefully snub the Apple and Google API, with good intentions they tired to move fast and found this is really something that needs to be implemented at the OS level.

The second point of conflict between Apple and the UK Gov is the integration with the NHS's extensive digital information systems. There had been plans to integrate it into various digital services provided by the NHS but Apple's guidelines prevented this. So these features were eventually dropped or substituted for much simpler solutions. There was some resentment within NHS and UK Gov that vital data couldn't be directly fed into their health tracking systems but in the end they realised what was really important and scaled back their ambitions.

I think we need to acknowledge the difference between Facebook collecting huge amounts of personal data for profit and the NHS collecting data to provide a streamlined digital health service. Privacy of data is always important but the context within which its used needs to be taken into account. I do wonder whether Apple's guidelines on this are too simplistic after all the NHS's goals are very different to that of Facebook's.

I don't expect Apple's modems to beat QC anytime soon even when they do appear. It will likely take time for them to mature their tech. Putting aside performance, I'm more looking forward to Apple being able to deeply integrate a modem into their SOC for the first time. The efficiencies and security this should bring should be huge. QC modems are basically mini computers in their own right, with their own OS. Apple can do away with all of that and build it right into their hardware architecture. It should also mean we finally get modems in MacBook's.

Only had a small amount of time to play with the service on my iPad but it seems very promising. Game play is just as good whether playing directly on my iPad or using my PS controller. There are no games which jump out as being amazing, these are only the launch titles. I'm very positive about the service simply because the sheer number of great game developers Apple has managed to get on board. I can't wait for Apple to release the new versions of AppleTV and macOS so I can play the games on my Mac and TV.