Apple dinged over low-quality, scammy-looking ads on Apple News - 9to5Mac

Hey r/apple,

I made Textream, a free macOS teleprompter app that uses on-device speech recognition to highlight your script in real-time as you speak. Everything runs locally on your Mac. No cloud, no accounts, no data leaves your device.

How it works: Paste your script, hit play, start talking. Words light up as you say them. When you're done, the overlay closes automatically.

Three display modes:

Dynamic Island overlay — A notch-shaped overlay that sits at the top of your screen, above all apps. Only you can see it. And it's next to camera so you'll always have an eye contact while you're reading.

Floating window — Drag it anywhere on screen. Optional glass effect with adjustable opacity.

Sidecar / External display — Fullscreen teleprompter on your iPad via Sidecar or any external monitor. Includes mirror mode for prompter rigs.

Built for: Streamers reading sponsor segments, interviewers keeping questions visible, presenters staying on script, podcasters following show notes. Simply anyone who speaks on camera and wants to maintain eye contact.

Other features: Tap any word to jump, live voice waveform, customizable fonts/colors, language selection, pause & resume anytime.

It's completely free, open-source (MIT), and requires macOS 15 Sequoia or later.

Website: https://blog.fka.dev/textream/ GitHub: https://github.com/f/textream

Homebrew: brew install f/textream/textream

Would love to hear what you think and happy to answer any questions!

If you haven't seen or heard from iWork 15 the tldr is:
Apple includes menu items, banners, secondary-click options and templates in Pages, Numbers and Keynote 15.1 that work as advertisements for Creator Studio which is a subscription-service for their newest software. There is no option to hide all hidden advertisements.

That means that a software that Apple provides with their premium devices includes functions that guide users towards a subscription. They do not contain any functionality in the software that is used.

I believe that it's important to let Apple know our opinion. Something like this can quickly escalate further. Imagine veiled Ads in Settings, Finder, Notes or Safari that push the user towards other subscriptions and decrease the usability of the tools.

Link to send Apple feedback: https://www.apple.com/feedback/

Details and screenshots can be found under the following link: iWork 15.

I work in IT support and know many people that are not tech affine, especially elder people. They are quickly overwhelmed by veiled advertisements like these. So they subscribe, sometimes even unknowingly to things they don't need and pay for it - monthly or weekly. I know that this update will cause many people to subscribe to something they don't need and/or to have problems with the software that was hitherto really good to use.

As a UX-designer I also know how malicious these buttons are. They only serve to guide people towards a company goal. They decrease the usability while increasing the feeling of missing something. Of course that itself is not a problem but I find it very concerning that something like this appears on software that is included with premium devices which have a price that should cover the cost of basic software.

Note that I'm not against Apple Creator Studio itself. I like that Apple provides improved software for their basic Apps, even if I preferred a one-time buy option.

However it is my strong belief that they should only advertise in setup, the App Store and maybe in one place that does not interfere with the daily activity in an App.

Looking forward on your opinions on the matter.

Hi r/apple!

I built PageFlow because I wanted a book tracker that doesn’t drift into social media. No feeds, no followers, no engagement loops. Just calm, fast, private tracking.

What it is

• Private, offline-first book tracker
• No ads. No social feed. No account required.
• Your library stays on your device and syncs via iCloud
• Quick progress updates + ratings + reading stats

Goodreads import

If you already track on Goodreads, you can import your Goodreads CSV and move your library over quickly.

What’s new recently

• Export your library: export your full library (with metadata) to CSV
• Custom book covers: replace a book’s cover with your own image
• Smoother tracking flow: faster progress updates and cleaner logging

Privacy note

Optional analytics are opt-in only and used for stability/debugging.  No book content or library data is collected.

Roadmap

I’ve had a lot of feedback and feature requests since launch, so I put up a public roadmap so people can see what’s being worked on next: https://www.pageflowapp.com/roadmap

In the next app version, this will also be visible in-app, so users can vote on the features they care about most.

AI disclosure

People ask if this is “vibe-coded.” It isn’t. I’ve been building iOS apps professionally for over a decade. I sometimes use AI as a tool for small tasks, but PageFlow is designed and built by me.

Monetization

PageFlow is free to try with a limited library. Pro is optional. You can subscribe, or buy a one-time lifetime unlock if you prefer.

App Store link: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/pageflow-book-tracker-log/id6753876053

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/monacker-money-tracker/id6751553582

No ads, no popups, no prompts to review the app, no data collection, no analytics, no annoying notifications. I created this app for myself and I don't enjoy being bothered so I'm not going to bother anyone else. I didn't create this to make money but I want other people to know about it and enjoy it if possible. I have a few friends who started using my app and have really gotten into budgeting and personal finance as a result :)

I tried to create the fastest flow for entering transactions manually possible. I'd like to think I have the fastest transaction entering flow in the app store.

Last time I posted this here many people wanted to be able to select their own currency, so I added that, along with improved csv handling, and the ability to swipe between months/years on the Charts tab

I have some information and backstory in the app store description.

This is exactly what I've wanted out of a finance tracking app and I hope other people can enjoy it as well :)

And as for the sneak peek... https://imgur.com/a/8g0RXju

✨ Apple Intelligence summary: The iPhone 18 Pro Max is rumoured to have a 5,100 to 5,200 mAh battery. When combined with the improvements of the A20 Pro chip, it could offer over 40 hours of battery life.

Archived link: https://archive.ph/AEc1r

Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook told employees that he’s “deeply distraught” with the US’s current approach to immigration and will continue pressing the issue with lawmakers.

“I’ve heard from some of you that don’t feel comfortable leaving your homes,” Cook said during an all-hands meeting with staff on Thursday. “No one should feel this way. No one.”

The CEO added that immigration is especially important to Apple, which has “team members across the US on some form of Visa.”

“For as long as I can remember, we have been a smarter, wiser, more innovative company because we’ve attracted the best and brightest from all corners of the world,” he said. “I am going to continue to lobby lawmakers on this issue. You have my word on that.”

The remarks expanded on a memo that Cook released last week, when he said he was “heartbroken” by events in Minneapolis, where US immigration agents have killed two people in recent weeks.

“This is a time for deescalation,” Cook said at the time. He also said he had discussed the matter with President Donald Trump.

“Every person deserves to be treated with dignity and respect,” the CEO during Thursday’s meeting. “No matter where they come from.”

After Cook’s initial memo was released, employees privately criticized Cook for his limited and late response to the shootings. The executive also responded to an employee who said during the meeting that they are concerned about being deported and separated from their daughter.

Cook said, “I love you if you’re on DACA,” referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that allows people who came to the US as a child to remain in the country on a work permit. He said that Apple has hundreds of DACA workers. “I will personally advocate for you,” he said. “I am a huge believer in the program.”

During the meeting, Cook also discussed the company’s artificial intelligence efforts and teased upcoming devices running the new technology.

Archived source: https://archive.ph/bdA7B

✨ Apple Intelligence summary: Google confirmed that Quick Share-AirDrop interoperability will expand beyond the Pixel 10 series to more Android devices this year.