Xed

Lawsuit accuses Apple Pay of taking unauthorized subscription payments

Xed

July 29

I've been a victim of that and dealing with GS to get it resolved was a nightmare. Additionally, knowing that I was going to be charged for a subscription that I didn't sign up for I changed my virtual card number but that didn't prevent the auto-charge from occurring. Not sure how that works but apparently GS still stores your old card number and let it go through even though to let them know you suspected fraud.

How to stop your LG or Samsung smart TV from tracking you

Xed

July 5

I'm also someone that doesn't let my Surveillance Smart TV connect to the internet. I'll do it initially for firmware upgrades, but after that I won't because there's never any feature benefits and I've not had any bugs that affect the the AV quality until the LG G5 (which is now resolved). My Apple TV is the only smart device worth connecting.

PS: Roku should also get a mention. They may even be worse. I couldn't find the quote, but I seem to recall that Roku's CEO admitted that they can sell their hardware so cheap (compared to a company like Apple) because they gather user data, use target ads, and sell those user metrics.

https://www.reddit.com/r/YouShouldKnow/comments/97an7p/ysk_roku_hardware_is_collecting_and_sharing/

Trump's new China trade deal is still bad for US business & consumers

Xed

June 28

AppleZulu said:

Xed said:

mentorsemblem said:

AppleZulu said:
Trade deficits were nowhere on anyone’s radar during the election that took place only months ago. Nobody voted for this.
While campaigning for his second term as US president, Trump pledged even larger tariffs than his first term, including 60% on China, 100% on Mexico, and 20% on all other countries. He also proposed tariffs to penalize US companies that outsourced manufacturing, such as a 200% tariff on John Deere.

....
- Universal baseline tariffs on most foreign products, which will increase incrementally if other countries manipulate their currency or "otherwise engage in unfair trading practices", and lowering taxes. Revoking China's Most Favored Nation trade status, gradually stopping all Chinese imports of essential goods, stopping American companies from investing in China, and banning federal contracts for any company that outsources to China.
- Decreasing trade deficits, especially with China.
....

That was a lot of revisionist history from AppleZulu. Not sure I'd call 8 calendar months "only months ago" based on the context of his comment. Use any search engine with a date before the election and you'll find countless articles and videos on how Trump doesn't understand tariffs and how actual experts with business, finance, and economics say this will hurt the US.

Trade was at the bottom among issues concerning 2024 voters. There was no urgency.

https://news.gallup.com/poll/651719/economy-important-issue-2024-presidential-vote.aspx

You first stated they "were nowhere on anyone’s radar" and now you're saying they were less important than other issues accordion got a single Gallop poll. So which is it? Trump had said nothing that made the news or that it's not that important to voters?

PS: You need to learn to read those results better. 64% said that trade with other nations was extremely to very important, with 95% of those polled saying it was important.

Files iPadOS 26 vs iPadOS 18: Refinements & speed improvements make Files actually usable

Xed

June 21

CheeseFreeze said:

I’m very concerned about readability. Just look at these screenshots. Everything is white, bright white, without any clear separation through the use of background colors. So far I find Liquid Glass an inconsistent mess, in comparison to what I considered a very refined UX/UI. They butchered it.

I'm currently not loving it. I'm running macOS 26 and iOS 26. So far it all seems stable and there are some new additions I like (like the dedicated Phone app), but I can't say I like the UI. In macOS toggle buttons look like they're not toggle-able (is that a word?) when they are, and CarPlay, when you're in an app, has clear side-row icons that are near invisible because automobile displays aren't as modern as smartphone displays and I lost a row of icons on the CarPlay Home Screens in one vehicle when there was already ample spacing.

None of this is a dealbreakers, but it's not a step forward, IMO.