Linked List: September 23, 2026

Wednesday, 23 September 2026

Changes to App Tracking Transparency in the E.U. ★

Apple Developer:

As part of agreements with select European competition authorities, Apple is introducing changes to its App Tracking Transparency framework in the European Union. Beginning with iOS 27.2 and iPadOS 27.2, developers will have the option to use an alternative version of the App Tracking Transparency system prompt in the EU. The requirements for when you must seek permission to track users will remain the same. Due to legal requirements, only the alternative version of the system prompt is available for apps distributed in Germany, France, Italy, Poland, and Romania.

In addition, for users in the European Union, you can reprompt [sic] a user via the App Tracking Transparency system prompt one year after the user’s previous choice in your app’s App Tracking Transparency system prompt, regardless of whether that choice was to accept or reject. A user cannot be re-prompted if they have disabled “Allow Apps to Request to Track” (renamed to “Allow Apps to Request to Link Your Activity Across Companies” in the EU) in their device’s Settings.

As Benjamin Mayo notes, “Allow Apps to Request to Link Your Activity Across Companies” is catchy.

The gist of this is that there are three constituent groups: Apple, users, and third-party developers. I’ve long argued that Apple prioritizes those groups in that order. What DMA/EU proponents have fooled themselves into believing is that the European Commission works to move users into, or at least closer to, the top spot. The truth is that they (and national regulatory authorities in Europe) work to move third-party developers and publishers into a more privileged position, at the expense of users’ privacy and experience. Users don’t want to be tracked without permission. Apple doesn’t want users to be tracked without their permission. But an awful lot of third-party developers and publishers want to track users without their permission or knowledge.

Just getting the term changed from “tracking” (one word, easily understood) to “linking your activity across companies” (five words, obfuscated) tells you all you need to know.

‘Prepare to Ship’ Is a Clever Software Solution That Allows iPhone 18 Pro Max to Ship With a Battery That Would Otherwise Exceed International Shipping Regulations ★

Apple Support:

iPhone 18 Pro Max offers a huge increase in battery life, in part due to increasing the battery capacity to over 20 watt-hours (Wh). Devices with a single-cell battery over 20 Wh have additional shipping requirements in most countries and regions. To address these requirements, iPhone 18 Pro Max uses an innovative battery-firmware solution that limits battery capacity to below 20 Wh from the time it’s manufactured through its transport from the factory. When you activate your iPhone, the limit is removed and the battery’s full charging capacity is available.

After activation, if you need to ship your iPhone 18 Pro Max for a repair, trade-in, return, or as a gift for example, use the Prepare to Ship feature in Settings. This feature discharges your battery to below 20 Wh and sets a charge limit so your iPhone stays below this limit while shipping. This can be reversed and you can reset your charge limit after shipping.

The battery in iPhone 18 Pro Max is safe, including for shipping and air travel. This process is needed only to meet shipping requirements and isn’t required while traveling or for any other iPhone model.

(Via The Verge.)

App Store Scam of the Week: ‘Update My Phone & Apps: Guide’ by Tair Olzhasev ★

“Update My Phone & Apps: Guide” is an iOS app from developer Tair Olzhasev. By default, the only thing it does for free is give you a “Check for Updates” button that launches the system Settings app. It doesn’t even take you to the General → Software Update screen. It just takes you to the root level of Settings.

Everything else it purports to do requires a $15/week subscription. That’s $780 per year. (It does offer a three-day free trial before weekly billing starts.) These other features, gated behind the “pro” subscription:

Clear device status: iOS version and storage usage at a glance

One-tap shortcut to system update settings

Tip of the Day with practical hacks and best practices

Lightweight, private, and fast — no accounts or tracking

Optional Premium for extra guidance and tools

In other words, the app does nothing that iOS doesn’t automatically do for all users. Absolutely nothing. I came across it from a user on Mastodon who discovered their father was paying $8/week ($416 per year) for it. It seems like the esteemed Mr. Olzhasev, savvy businessman that he is, changes the subscription price frequently.

Olzhasev’s other two apps are Thermal Camera Filter Effects (a neat trick, given that iPhones do not have thermal cameras or heat sensors) and Settings App: Simulator, a $15 app that admittedly gives you just what it says on the tin. It’s an inaccurate mirror of the Settings app “so you can practice without changing the real system.”

Update, next day: These apps are no longer in the App Store.

Super Intelligence, Indeed ★

President Donald Trump, in a prepared speech before the United Nations General Assembly yesterday (one-minute video clip from Aaron Rupar, posted on Bluesky):

The United States also totally rejects any attempt to construct a globalist scheme to control for the artificial intelligence — being spoken of so much, now — here and after officially called “super intelligence”, changing the name. The use of the word “artificial” makes intelligence fake, it makes it sound fake, and it is not fake. It’s actually amazing. But we have to be careful. In fact it is exactly the opposite of what it purports. From this point forward, all of United States’ documents and hopefully the world’s will be changed to use the much more accurate term “super” as opposed to “artificial”. So it’s “super intelligence”. In other words, welcome to the world of super intelligence dash SI. SI. Let’s see if that goes. It sounds much better. It is much better. And it’s much more accurate. Let’s see if I have any power. Maybe I do, and maybe I don’t, we’re going to find out pretty soon. Super intelligence.

Pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to say the “dash” aloud, but other than that, no signs of dementia or madness. Sharp as a tack, directly addressing the nation’s top concerns regarding AI.

Paul Krugman:

In the 1971 comedy film Bananas a third-world nation’s strongman announces his new policies:

From this day on, the official language of San Marcos will be Swedish. Silence! In addition to that, all citizens will be required to change their underwear every half-hour. Underwear will be worn on the outside so we can check.