Stuart Breckenridge — Links

'App Store Reviews Are Busted'

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 13:37:45 GMT

Let's start with the original article by Terry Godier:

For example, if you have a 4.1 star rating in the App Store, any 4 star review is going to decrease that average. In other words, leaving a 4 star review is essentially leaving a negative review.

John Gruber:

Problem #1 [...] If you’re going to collect and average ratings from users, the system that works best is binary: thumbs-up or thumbs-down. Netflix switched from stars to thumbs in 2017, and YouTube switched all the way back in 2009.

I'd add one more to this list, and certainly one that's more analogous to the App Store: Steam. Steam's thumbs-based model is far superior. Not only can you rate and review the game (or app), but other users can also rate your review. Potential buyers can then find and filter by the most helpful reviews. It's a better model for all involved. See UPDATE #1 below.

Problem #2 is that even if the App Store switched from stars to thumbs, the system would still be gamified by developers, rewarding, as Godier aptly puts it, not the best apps but instead the apps that are best at “review prompt execution”. Apple should remove the APIs that allow apps to prompt for reviews, and forbid the practice of prompting for them.

Apple should remove those APIs, but they won't, and until they do, we're playing within that ruleset. Full disclosure, I've built what Terry and John are describing, Singapore Buses does include a review prompt. It's insidiously well designed. On the third launch, the app asks for a rating.

UPDATE #1: I just discovered that the App Store also has a thumbs-up/thumbs-down rating system for reviews of an app. Long-press a review and a context menu appears with Helpful vs. Not Helpful responses. Its outrageous that this system is hidden behind a long-press.

'Apple's MacBook Neo Sold Out Through April Amid Surging Demand'

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 22:39:18 GMT

Juli Clover, Macrumors:

Apple's MacBook Neo has been a huge hit, and it's still in high demand over a month after it launched. The ‌MacBook Neo‌ is just $599, and with PC makers raising prices because of global RAM shortages, the Neo's low price tag and Apple allure are even more appealing.

MacBook Neo‌ orders placed today on the online Apple Store won't reach customers until May, which means that it's sold out for the month of April, as 9to5Mac points out. All colors and both the 256GB and 512GB SSD configurations will be delivered between May 1 and May 8 at the earliest.

That the MacBook Neo is a success doesn't surprise me. I used one briefly in the nearby Apple Store and it's a really nice laptop. For $599 you're getting something cheaper and more capable than my iPad Pro paired with a Magic Keyboard. In fact, if the iPad Pro doesn't start running macOS in the future, I'm not sure I'd buy another one: iPadOS hobbles the iPad Pro to the point where it can't justify its price tag.

'You Can Absolutely Have an RSS Dependent Website in 2026'

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 12:53:28 GMT

Mat Duggan

At one point I did have a Subscribe button up, and enough people clicked it that the cost of actually sending those emails started to resemble a real bill. Sending thousands of emails when you have no ads, no sponsors, and no monetization strategy beyond "I guess people will just... read it?" doesn't make a lot of financial sense.

…

But the bigger reason — the one I actually care about — is that I didn't want a database full of email addresses sitting under my control if I could possibly avoid it.

…

The people who use RSS really use RSS. They're not trend-chasers. They're the type who still have a working bookmark toolbar. They are, in the best possible sense, your people.

I had the same strategy of no ads, no sponsors, and no monetisation when I was using Ghost (Pro) and, yes, that resembled a real bill of US$348 a year (because I had to have a custom theme). That fee also covered membership management, database security, and email distribution, so it wasn't just hosting and a CMS.

When I switched to Astro, I dropped my free membership, membership-only pages, and newsletter, effectively going RSS only. And Atom. And JSON feed. It can be done.

RSS just isn't as easy to explain as email is to people that are new to the format.

Stellar Photography

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 13:56:38 GMT

There's a fantastic, and growing, selection of exposures from the Artemis II mission over on Flickr. All of them are jaw dropping.

A Decisive Victory

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 13:38:14 GMT

Sky News:

Donald Trump says the US has received a "workable" 10-point plan from Iran after the two countries agreed to a two-week ceasefire, labelling it a "complete victory" for his nation.

What's in that "workable" plan? Again, from Sky News:

Withdrawal of U.S. forces in the region
Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz
Compensation for damages to Iran
Removal of sanctions
Release of frozen Iranian assets
Iranian commitment to not build a nuclear weapon
Acceptance of Iran's right to enrich
Iran's agreement to peace treaties with regional countries
Ceasing hostilities against all resistance groups in the region
Provisions backed by UN resolution

So, in summary, all U.S. military objectives have been met, says Pete Hegseth, and, as a workable plan: U.S. forces will withdraw, Iran will gain more control over the Strait of Hormuz, Iran will be compensated, sanctions against Iran will be removed, frozen assets will be released, and Iran will continue to enrich.

You have to wonder what the military objectives were.

'A Good Mac Studio is Hard to Find'

Sat, 04 Apr 2026 12:09:47 GMT

Stephen Hackett, at 512pixels.net:

It’s not just the Mac Studio; it’s easy to build a Mac mini that won’t ship until August. That is bad news if you need a new Mac desktop on short notice. These long delays are not impacting all Macs, though, as the iMac and notebooks seem to all have much better shipping dates.

I don't need a new Mac desktop (mini or Studio) on short notice. I have, however, been looking for a Mac mini for Gobbler development. 95% of development is done on my MacBook Pro and I've tried to replicate the development environment on my gaming PC through Windows Subsystem for Linux. It's close, but not the same.

Regardless, pricing up any Mac mini results in a delivery estimate way into the future. My thinking is that this is due to Apple running down what's left of M4 stock with an M5 refresh delayed due to memory shortages.

Earth in the Rear View Mirror

Sat, 04 Apr 2026 07:22:51 GMT

Auroras along the North and South poles, the Sun about to peek out, and Venus visible in the bottom right. Amazing.

The photograph was taken with a Nikon D5, for those wondering.

'Apple Lays Groundwork for Ads in Maps on iOS 26.5'

Tue, 31 Mar 2026 13:12:42 GMT

Juli Clover, Macrumors:

Businesses in the U.S. and Canada will be able to show ads in search results and at the top of a "Suggested Places" section in the app, which is new in iOS 26.5. Suggested Places displays recommendations for locations to visit based on trending places nearby, recent searches, and more.

Ads in the Maps app will have a clear "Ad" label, much like the ads shown in the App Store search results.

I have no issue with ads in Maps. I would also have no issue if Apple brought back iAd, presumably as Apple Ads, for third-party apps. I would drop AdMob pretty quickly, if Apple Ads proved competitive with AdMob.

'Security Analysis of the Official White House iOS App'

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 13:56:00 GMT

This is an interesting, if occasionally alarmist, security analysis from atomic.computer of the White House's new flagship application.

The major findings:

Finding 1: A Russian-Origin Company Executes Live JavaScript Inside the App (Six Times)
Finding 2: GPS Tracking With No Feature Justification
Finding 3: The Privacy Manifest Is Provably False
Finding 4: OneSignal Can Remotely Toggle Location Tracking and Privacy Consent
Finding 5: The App Strips Privacy Consent Banners
Finding 6: Minimal Security Hardening
Finding 7: Dormant Over-the-Air Code Push
Finding 8: Full Behavioral Intelligence Pipeline

Finding 1 is an absolute embarrassment. Shoddy workmanship of the highest order.

Finding 2 has an important caveat:

Whether this code path is actively enabled at runtime would require network traffic analysis, but the capability is compiled into the app and the always-on location permission is requested.

You shouldn't be surprised to know that I'm not going to install the app to find out if a location permission prompt is actually presented. So I'll generously give the benefit of the doubt.

Finding 3 is either a manifest lie or an egregious oversight from the developers. Regardless, how it got through App Review is what puzzles me. There are SDKs in the White House app that require a manifest. It's astounding to me that Singapore Buses has a more robust Privacy Manifest simply by declaring the use of UserDefaults.

Finding 4 is technically misleading:

These are standard OneSignal SDK features, but the implication is significant: OneSignal’s servers can remotely enable or disable GPS tracking and change whether privacy consent is required, all without an app update, without Apple review, without the user knowing. It’s a light switch for location tracking, and it’s not in the White House’s hands.

OneSignal, published yesterday:

For location to be active in any app using our platform, two separate things must happen, both of which are outside of OneSignal’s control:

The developer must explicitly enable it. [...]

The user must grant permission at the operating system level. [...]

Finding 5 is unforgivable. (Ironically, it probably makes websites easier to use as I'm quite sick of the cookie consent banners.)

I've recently spent a lot of time working on many of the security control issues listed in Finding 6 for Gobbler. Again, it's not surprising that the White House app ships with such a lax security posture.

Finding 7 isn't much of a finding. Something exists but isn't turned on.

Finding 8 isn't much of a finding, either. This is just what OneSignal does.

My problem with this app is one of trust. And, to be clear, that problem of trust lies with Apple. They have a web of guidelines that should have prevented this app from ever being released. They've pitched their brand on user privacy and routinely bust smaller developers for not having just the right entry in their Privacy Manifest.

And yet, here we are, with a White House app that doesn't declare anything with regards to its data capture practices.

To whom and when do App Review Guidelines apply?

Apple Discontinues the Mac Pro

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 14:28:38 GMT

Chance Miller, 9to5 Mac:

It’s the end of an era: Apple has confirmed to 9to5Mac that the Mac Pro is being discontinued. It has been removed from Apple’s website as of Thursday afternoon. The “buy” page on Apple’s website for the Mac Pro now redirects to the Mac’s homepage, where all references have been removed.

I never saw anyone buy one. I've never met anyone that owned one. I've never been less surprised by a decision.