Food deserts are such a weird concept to me; Australia has about the same land-size as the continental US and only ~8% of the population. Yet even for all their perceived faults, our two biggest supermarket chains are able to deliver fresh produce to pretty much all but the most remote communities.

Meanwhile, sections of major US cities are somehow lacking access to fresh produce?! 🤯

Legitimately could be underestimating it, honestly… after all, everything is bigger in Texas!

Perspective; the 2x2 is closer to you than the 2x4.

The maximum I’ve ever consumed was ~1,200mg (1.2g) of caffeine over a ~16 hour timeframe.

I did not feel OK afterwards; reading your comment just started giving me heart palpitations… 😅

100% agree; the whole Touch Screen Everything UI like those found in Teslas are the absolute worst.

Having to take your eyes off the road to do literally anything to do with the climate system should be made illegal. Bring back tactile switches, FFS!

Those will die off soon enough, through forced obsolescence and an inability to compete with ad-subsidised junk that spies on you.

Heck, even opting for median age over the mean would work in this case!

Yeah, one would have hoped that’d be the case - but apparently not.

I just remembered reading this a while back (start of last year, it seems?), and it honestly felt like a tacit admission of wrong-doing - so they’re likely going to be facing an uphill battle, or at least are expecting one.

Google quietly updates Chrome’s incognito warning in wake of tracking lawsuit

A Wild Matt-o appeared!

Why not just use Brave, which blocks ads and allows for picture-in-picture and background play?

Do you need to download for offline play or similar?

How has it been “proven” that all app stores are equally safe?

Heck, just comparing Google Play and Apple App Store - every article over the past year covering malicious apps (including the recent cross-platform SparkCat) mentions at some point or another that these occurrences are significantly rarer on iOS given Apple’s stricter policies and guidelines. Policies that could not otherwise be enforced on 3rd party app stores.

Realistically, no one who purchases an iPhone is doing so under the assumption that they aren’t going to be within the wider Apple ecosystem and ‘walled garden’. Those that do want that additional freedom, and associated risks, have Android and other FOSS options available to them already.

Think of it this way: There are plenty of Android-based devices that are faster, better or have unique features that iOS doesn’t; Apple’s USP is iOS. We were ‘free’ to choose this ecosystem, and by trying to impose your own definition of freedom onto us, you are instead depriving us of our own.

If you choose not to see the inherent risks associated with this, so be it - but I am wary enough to know that if/once the genie is out of the bottle, there is no ability to go back when the shit inevitably hits the fan.

Don’t think of me as a blind Apple fanboy, either: I think there are plenty of valid criticisms of Apple’s handling of the App Store that legislation would be much better suited to targeting - namely their egregious fees and arbitrary policies regarding directing users to their own websites for alternate payment methods.****

Well you weren’t very specific, so I wasn’t sure which point(s) you were disagreeing with.

I’m sure there are a number of apps which were only available on one storefront (Google, Samsung, F-Droid etc.).

China is in an even worse spot, as Google is outright banned - there are a dozen or so competing Android app stores; however their saving grace is that literally every digital transaction goes through either Weixin or AliPay - so there’s a somewhat lessened risk of credit card fraud.

Why would smaller, niche apps move to alternative stores on iOS? To (rightfully) avoid the excessive fees charged - so yes, a restaurant would be a prime example of someone not be willing / able to give 30% to Apple (nor should they, it’s downright extortion).

Banking Trojans have hit millions of Android devices in 2025 — here are the biggest threats and how to protect yourself

Just because you aren’t aware of it, it doesn’t mean it’s not happening already.

I respectfully disagree.

If I’m out at a restaurant with app-based ordering, or my Real Estate agent requires payment through their gateway, or to track my utilities usage, or am required to use any other number of niche apps that become only available through alternate app stores? Then I very well risk being put in a situation where I am otherwise forced to.

Let alone the headaches that will inevitably come from the older, less technologically savvy, and more vulnerable having their default app stores highjacked, and spoof apps stealing their credentials/credit cards.

Then we get into the more general issues of allowing unsigned code to be loaded and run on our smartphones - it will lead to the era of viruses, Trojans and ransomware.

I am reminded of this piece that Last Week Tonight did on Encryption, which is quite cogent given the topic at hand.

Best security practices involve minimising the number of places your sensitive (financial) data is stored. If a website doesn’t accept a known and reputable intermediary like Apple Pay, PayPal or a BNPL provider - I would refrain from using it.

If this is something that you want - then go ahead and Jailbreak your iPhone, or get an Android - more power to you; but please stop trying to enshittify iOS.

Unpopular opinion, but if I wanted multiple app stores (and all the associated benefits and risks) then I would have opted for an Android.

The walled garden approach works for me, and I don’t want to be inconvenienced and my data put at risk because a particular, necessary app is only available through a 3rd party platform.

Now, Apple being forced to reduce the % of app sales down from 30% to a more reasonable number I am all for.

Holy crap - that was brilliant, and Amber’s over-the-top reactions were just the cream on top! 👌🏼

Unfortunately JNCO went out of business 7 years ago; shame, really - it could have made for a great moonshot stock bet! 😅

Political ideology is a spectrum, and I feel that Leftists tend to be as hostile towards those they deem ‘not as left’ as them, just as much as they are towards Fascists, Neo-Cons and their ilk.

It’s basically the no true Scotsman fallacy manifest.

It has Metastasised.