We learned yesterday that the European Union looks set to impose an App Store anti-steering ban on Apple. That is, Apple would no longer be allowed to prevent Spotify and other music services from linking to their own company’s website for subscription sign-ups.

The ruling we’re expecting is a narrow one, in response to a complaint filed by Spotify almost four years ago now, and will likely only apply to streaming music services. But the principle is a sound one, and is unlikely to pose any great risk to Apple …

The FTC is investigating Adobe, after widespread consumer complaints that the company makes it too hard to cancel app subscriptions.

Adobe was one of the earliest software companies to switch from a one-off purchase model to recurring subscriptions, but consumers have long complained that it’s easier to start a subscription than it is to end one …

Social network Threads has now launched in EU countries, with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg noting that this now opens it up to an additional 448M people. The company first teased this last week.

EU citizens will also be able to browse Threads without having to create an Instagram account – a move likely intended to placate antitrust regulators …

GM took another swing at justifying its decision to drop CarPlay support in future EVs and failed miserably. Now, in a clear swipe at GM, Ford CEO Jim Farley took to social media on Wednesday to reiterate Ford’s continued commitment to CarPlay.

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In addition to the new Stolen Device Protection feature, iOS 17.3 beta 1 also re-adds support for collaborative playlists in Apple Music. This time, there’s a fun twist: you can now react to songs in a shared playlist with emojis through a new Tapback-style interface.

Instagram is building on its Notes feature with new ways to post and reply. Notes is Instagram’s messaging feature that lets you set a short status update with friends.

Mark Zuckerberg has announced that Threads is now testing integration with the fediverse, thanks to support for the ActivityPub protocol. In this current iteration of the integration, Zuckerberg says this means posts from Threads accounts will now be available on Mastodon, Pixelfed, and other services that use ActivityPub.

Apple is now selling the USB-C case for AirPods Pro 2 separately for $99. This allows AirPods Pro 2 users to switch from the Lightning case to the USB-C case without having to buy a new pair of AirPods.

Apple says the first orders will arrive between December 27 and January 2, so they won’t arrive in time to be a stocking stuffer.

After months of testing, Apple released iOS 17.2 on Monday afternoon. The release, which has shaped into a noteworthy update, comes bundled with many new changes and features. In this post, I’ve distilled the over 50 new features into a small batch of five of my favorites.

You can now score the second-best prices yet on the latest Apple Watch SE 2 styles in all of Wednesday’s best deals from $199. It comes joined by another chance to gift the new USB-C AirPods Pro 2 for less with a discount down to $200, as well as Apple’s Magic Keyboard Folio at $179. Hit the jump for all that and more in the latest 9to5Toys Lunch Break.

Apple will soon be handed a major loss in its antitrust battle with Spotify in the European Union. According to Bloomberg, EU regulators are preparing a ruling that would prohibit Apple from “blocking music services from pushing their users away from the App Store to alternative subscription options.”

Apple could also face a hefty fine as part of the ruling, potentially reaching as much as 10% of its annual sales in the EU.

iOS 17.2 comes with new features like the Journal app, spatial video capture, and improved iPhone 15 Pro Telephoto camera focusing speed. But there are some handy smaller upgrades as well – one being a set of new widgets for the Apple Weather app. Here are all the details and a look at the trio.

The new Pixelmator Pro update, version 3.5, brings full support for HDR image content. With the new Pixelmator, users can shoot HDR photos on their iPhone, edit with HDR layers inside Pixelmator Pro and then export into a variety of standard HDR image formats.

You can get the new Pixelmator as a free update for existing users, and for new purchases it’s currently on sale at just $25 in the Mac App Store.

One of the key features added in the iOS 17.3 beta is Stolen Device Protection. This is a thoughtful and creative solution to balancing out the need for protecting iPhone users without stopping them do the things they want to do with their devices.

What I love about Apple’s solution here is that someone has clearly put a lot of thought into that balancing act …

Salesforce has announced three new ways that it is deepening its strategic partnership with Apple. The effort builds on a strategy that kicked off between the two companies in 2018. The first development is Salesforce integration with Apple Business Messaging.

For the first time ever, customers wanting to carry out DIY repairs on their devices will be given access to Apple diagnostics software. This software was previously limited to Apple Stores and authorized service providers.

Apple announced the news today, noting that its Self Service Repair program has also been extended to the iPhone 15 line-up, and M2 Macs – as well as rolling out to new countries …

We’re today learning of a major acceleration in plans to shift more production of Apple devices from China to India. In less than one year, Foxconn has increased its planned investment in an Indian plant by almost 400%.

It follows a recent report that Apple has told its battery suppliers that it would like as many iPhone 16 batteries as possible to be manufactured in India …

Back in May, it was reported that the iPhone 16 would get a vertically aligned camera bump similar to the iPhone 12. A new rumor today claims that one of the iPhone 16 designs Apple is testing not only rearranges the camera lenses but also redesigns the camera bump itself.

Update: In a statement to MotorTrend, GM clarified its position:

“We wanted to reach out to clarify that comments about GM’s position on phone projection were misrepresented and to reinforce our valued partnerships with Apple and Google and each company’s commitment to driver safety. GM’s embedded infotainment strategy is driven by the benefits of having a system that allows for greater integration with the larger GM ecosystem and vehicles.”

GM continues to shoot itself in the foot and double down on its decision to ditch CarPlay. In a new interview this week, Tim Babbitt, GM’s head of product for infotainment, attempted to offer some “justification” for the controversial decision.

According to Babbitt, drivers will be “less likely to pick up their phones” if their cars don’t have CarPlay. Yes, you read that right.

Popular flight tracking app Flighty has been updated today with a collection of new year-in-review features. This includes your “2023 Flighty Passport,” breaking down all of your flight stats for the year. There are new “Delay Report” and “Aircraft Report” year-in-review features as well.