Linked List: March 6, 2024

Wednesday, 6 March 2024

Signal:

Usernames in Signal do not function like usernames on social media platforms. Signal usernames are not logins or handles that you’ll be known by on the app — they’re simply a quick way to connect without sharing a phone number. [...]

Usernames simply allow you to initiate a connection on Signal without sharing your phone number, and Signal’s robust privacy safeguards remain unchanged. Signal is built so that we do not know who you message, what you say, which group chats you participate in, who’s in your contact list, and more.

If you want to create a username, you can do so in Settings > Profile. A username on Signal (unlike a profile name) must be unique and must have two or more numbers at the end of it; a choice intended to help keep usernames egalitarian and minimize spoofing. Usernames can be changed as often as you like, and you can delete your username entirely if you prefer to no longer have one.

Clever solution. Especially given that these usernames aren’t like social media handles, I particularly like the “every username gets at least 2 digits appended” rule.

How iOS Is Determining Eligibility for Alternative App Marketplaces in the European Union ★

Apple support document:

To reflect the Digital Markets Act’s changes, users in the European Union are able to install alternative app marketplaces and install apps offered through alternative app marketplaces in iOS 17.4 or later. The country or region of your Apple ID must be set to one of the countries or regions of the European Union, and you must be physically located in the European Union.

Your device eligibility for alternative app marketplaces is determined by using on-device processing, with only an indicator of eligibility sent to Apple. To preserve your privacy, Apple does not collect your device’s location.

If you leave the European Union for short-term travel, you’ll continue to have access to alternative app marketplaces for a grace period. If you’re gone for too long, you’ll lose access to some features, including installing new alternative app marketplaces. Apps you installed from alternative app marketplaces will continue to function, but they can’t be updated by the marketplace you downloaded them from.

How long is “too long”? What a confusing mess this is shaping up to be.

Meta’s Plans for E2EE Messaging Interop for WhatsApp and Messenger ★

Engineering at Meta:

To comply with a new EU law, the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which comes into force on March 7th, we’ve made major changes to WhatsApp and Messenger to enable interoperability with third-party messaging services. [...]

To interoperate, third-party providers will sign an agreement with Messenger and/or WhatsApp and we’ll work together to enable interoperability. Today we’ll publish the WhatsApp Reference Offer for third-party providers which will outline what will be required to interoperate with the service. The Reference Offer for Messenger will follow in due course. [...]

In order to maximize user security, we would prefer third-party providers to use the Signal Protocol. Since this has to work for everyone however, we will allow third-party providers to use a compatible protocol if they are able to demonstrate it offers the same security guarantees as Signal.

Unclear to me whether these third-party providers will, somehow, only function in the EU, or if Meta is opening this up worldwide. Also unclear to me is who benefits from this?

Here’s the New iOS 17.4 Default Browser Nag for iPhone Users in Europe ★

Thomas Ricker, writing for The Verge:

It’s DMA day in Europe, and I’ve immediately been prompted to choose a default browser after updating to iOS 17.4. The list is populated with “the most downloaded browsers on iOS in that country in the prior year.”

This screen is ridiculous. I find it hard to believe that anyone thinks this sort of user experience is anything but confusing to a typical user. Someone who’s been using Safari for a decade, and doesn’t even know what a “default browser” is, might have to scroll below the fold to even see Safari as an option, depending on the random order.

From Apple’s developer documentation for this screen:

Up to 11 of the most downloaded browsers on iOS in that country in the prior year that meet the above criteria will be selected for the browser choice screen in addition to Safari. Apple will update the list of browsers eligible to be shown on the choice screen once per calendar year.

The current list of browsers shown on the browser choice screen per country are below. The lists below are in alphabetical order, on a user’s device browsers will be shown in a randomized order per user. Click on a country below to jump to it.

If this is a good idea for web browsers, why stop there? Why not mandate the same sort of choice screen for every app? Mail, Calendar, Notes, Weather, Camera — why not require all of them to show a choice screen for picking a “default”?

Vision Pro’s Battery Indicator Is Confusing ★

Apple, in a support document on charging Vision Pro:

The light next to the battery’s USB-C port can give you a quick look at the battery’s current charge state when you’re not wearing Apple Vision Pro. The light turns on briefly when you connect the battery to the USB-C Charge Cable, when you disconnect it, and when you move or gently tap it.

Here’s what the light means when you first connect the battery to power, or if you move or tap the battery while it’s charging:

Green for several seconds: the battery is charged to capacity.

Amber for several seconds: the battery’s charge level is less than 100%, but has enough charge for you to use Apple Vision Pro.

Amber pulsing slowly: the battery’s charge level is too low to power your Apple Vision Pro. Keep charging the battery for 10 minutes, or until the light shows amber steadily (not pulsing) when you tap the battery.

Here’s what the light means when you disconnect the battery from power, or if you move or tap the battery while it’s not connected to power:

Green for several seconds: the battery is charged to 50% or higher.

Amber for several seconds: the battery’s charge level is between 5% and 49%.

Amber pulsing slowly: the battery’s charge level is too low to power your Apple Vision Pro. Charge the battery for 10 minutes, or until the light shows amber steadily (not pulsing) when you tap the battery.

This seems like it could and should have been so much simpler. Why not have 4 lights instead of one, representing 25/50/75/100 percent charge levels? It seems like madness that green means “charged to capacity” when plugged in, but “50% or higher” when not. That’s a big difference!

Television for Vision Pro ★

Speaking of new apps from recent guests on my podcast, Adam Lisagor has created a new app for Vision Pro that he introduces thus, with a clever one-minute video:

Welcome to the future of television. I call it ... Television.

The gimmick is that Television offers an assortment of realistic-looking televisions, old and new, and you can just place them in the world around you. You can watch videos from your Photos library, and, starting with the 1.1 update, from YouTube and other web streaming platforms.

I don’t know if this is a useful way to watch video but I’m certain that it’s fun. And I think fun is exactly what we need from developers in the early days of a new platform. In a weird way, that stupid beer-drinking iPhone app mattered. I think Television matters the same way. It’s joyful to plop a realistic old-time CRT TV on your desk. I get why Apple didn’t go this way — with skeuomorphic VR objects — with the system design of VisionOS, but that just means the opportunity is there for the taking for third-party developers.

It’s just fun.