jfreedle2

AppleInsider said:

The updated macOS Tahoe has added a clipboard history to Spotlight and what seems like a small addition is a gigantic productivity boost -- that has always been offered by third-party apps.

Spotlight's new clipboard history -- image credit: Apple

It's the feature you never knew you wanted, until you've used one. Clipboard history, also known as a clipboard manager, lets you paste what you copied just now, or an hour ago, or yesterday.

Clipboard history gives you instant access to anything you've copied, from a phone number to the whole text of a document, from a URL to an image or a chart.

It's also a feature that has been available on the Mac for 28 years -- via third-party apps. The very first to bring it to the Mac was an app called CopyPaste, and an updated version is still available from Plum Amazing.

This year's Sherlocking

It seems that each year, Apple manages to introduce at least one feature that was previously the exclusive domain of a third-party app. In 2024, for instance, its Apple Intelligence Writing Tools became a direct rival to Grammerly and password managers.

One argument is that Apple is merely adding features that would naturally have come to the Mac or other devices, although waiting three decades to do it to clipboard managers is pushing that a bit.

Another is that Apple will only ever go so far with a feature, because of its aim to make everything accessible to all users. So when it added Journal to the iPhone -- and now also to the Mac -- it didn't attempt to offer all of the features that the existing Day One did in that same genre of apps.

There is an idea that what this does is show users an app or feature category exists. Then once they've used Apple's version, at least some will hit its limits and go looking for the more powerful third-party options.

That could just be wishful thinking on the part of developers, but it is certainly true that Apple shining a spotlight on a feature will bring it to the attention of just about infinitely more users.

Clipboard managers

Compared to 1Password or Day One, CopyPaste is not very well known, but other clipboard managers are. There are dozens of Mac apps that provide this feature, sometimes as one small part of a much larger suite of functions, such as with the macOS automation app, Keyboard Maestro.

The existing Clipboard Manager in Spotlight rival Alfred 5

Putting this feature into Spotlight, though, means that Apple is directly targeting the most popular versions of this feature. That's because it is how the Spotlight alternatives Alfred 5, LaunchBar 6, andRaycast all work.

Alfred 5 does also give quick keystroke access directly to the clipboard history. But all of these launchers as they are called, generally present a very Spotlight-like appearance.

Arguably, those apps have always been a kind of reverse-Sherlock, because they act as total Spotlight replacements. They are even launched with a keystroke and the developers all recommend Command-Space, the same one that by default launches Spotlight.

Productivity boon

This is going to hit those third-party apps, but they will concentrate on how they offer many more features. Alfred 5, for instance, lets you collect different files from across your Mac and then perform actions on all of them. Or with Raycast, the launcher is a fast gateway into AI searches.

Then both Raycast and Alfred 5 give users the ability to create their own custom automations, or download them from the apps' user communities. Spotlight doesn't directly have this feature, though it can be used to launch Shortcuts which can be made to offer a lot of the same functions.

Overall, if you've not used a clipboard manager then it seems such a tiny addition to the Mac, but in reality it is a massive productivity boost. Putting it into Spotlight and making it quickly accessible will surface this feature for very many more Mac users who might not even know of the third-party alternatives.

We'll be talking about what else got nabbed by Apple in macOS 26, iPadOS 26, and iOS 26 very soon.



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avon b7 said:

"Apple's "good faith efforts to engage" with the European Commission."

I think this takes the biscuit.

It's fine for Apple to disagree with the EU but to 'comply' with a requirement that expressly goes against anti-steering tactics by imposing a seperate system that effectively imposes the same financial burden on developers under a different name is not engaging in good faith efforts.

Apple is really earning itself a bad name here. 

AppleInsider said:

Apple has a month left to make its App Store rules compliant with EU Digital Markets Act antisteering provisions, or the fines will keep coming.

The full ruling outlines the EU's 500 million euro fine against Apple

On April 23, following multiple reports that the EU was delaying the issuing of fines against Apple and Meta, Europe finally pulled the trigger. It announced that it would fine Apple and Meta millions of euros for failing to comply with the Digital Markets Act.

Over a month later, on May 27, the European Commission published its full ruling on the matter. The 67-page document also outlines exactly what the punishment is to Apple, for failing to follow the regulation.

The bottom line is that Apple was fined 500 million euro ($567 million), with Apple being given three months to pay it to the European Commission. If it doesn't pay on time, it will have to pay interest on the due funds.

Apple also has to fix itself and end the non-compliance with the Digital Markets Act within 60 days of the April notification. If Apple does not, it faces the prospect of "periodic penalty payments" of an unspecified amount until it does comply.

Non-compliant anti-steering

The ruling covers how Apple is not complying with the DMA based on how its anti-steering rules are implemented. Originally, Apple prevented developers from telling consumers about ways to make payments for services and features that didn't go through Apple's systems.

Apple did change its rules under regulatory pressure, but did so in a way that didn't meet the requirements of the Digital Markets Act. These changes included allowing developers to share an external link with users, but with limitations.

Since Apple wouldn't get its 30% cut for usage of its In-App Purchases mechanism, Apple added a new requirement, effectively taking a 27% fee from these transactions outside of the App Store system.

In its ruling, neither the old nor new business terms complied with the regulation, since they restricted the ability for developers to promote their off-App Store offers in their apps. Forcing a fee instead of doing so free of charge was also seen as an issue, as is limiting links to one URL per app.

Repeatedly, Apple's arguments are denied in the ruling, such as its definition of "free" as its read in the regulation when taking into account nuances in different languages.

As for the fine, Apple argued that it should not be fined at all, due to the relative novelty of the regulation and taking into account Apple's "good faith efforts to engage" with the European Commission.

"None of Apple's arguments for not imposing a fine, or for reducing the fine, are convincing," the ruling reads.

Awaiting appeal

While the final ruling's publication in full seemingly brings to an end legal action that started back in May 2024, that's far from the reality of the situation. Like many other high-stakes lawsuits, the appeals process will take years to conclude.

Apple said at the time of the original ruling that it will appeal against the fine. Apple also took the opportunity to accuse the EU of discriminating against it, and of requiring Apple to hand over its technology to rival companies for free.

It is unclear if Apple has formally appealed, nor if Apple has made its 500 million euro payment.



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