Don't Forget to Unsubscribe From Your Apple News+ Trial

One month less a day ago, Apple News+ was released to the public where they could start a free, one-month trial. For those who aren't satisfied with the service or who don't want to be charged for it, you should cancel by tomorrow if you started as soon as it came out. As soon as you cancel, you'll lose access to Apple News+. To do this on iPhone, go to the Apple News app, go to the Following tab, tap "Manage Subscriptions," and tap "Cancel Free Trial." Then, just follow the prompt and you won't be charged. There have been a lot of criticisms of the service, and I think Apple needs to make improvements before they can really start bragging about it. I don't think the concept is terrible, but the execution was pretty far from hitting the mark for me.

Apple's 'It's Showtime' Event

Apple today announced a slew of services. They announced Apple News+, Apple Arcade, Apple Card, and Apple TV+. I don't have the time nor energy to talk about every little thing about the event, but, in short, I was underwhelmed. This was genuinely the worst Apple keynote I have seen yet. There was nothing interesting for the people who usually watched these keynotes, with a few exceptions. This presentation basically sums up how different Apple is now then from 5-10 years ago. The most interesting thing for me was the Apple Card, which adds features to iOS while staying true to Apple's commitment to privacy. Apple Arcade seems like a slap in the face to macOS users and a quick excuse to get Apple in the conversation about gaming. Apple News+ and Apple TV+ aren't for me. I'm sure someone is excited for these services, and more power to you if you are. That's all I'll say on that matter.

It's good for a tree to grow and branch out, but it's pointless if your trunk being chopped with an axe. I can't take Apple seriously if they're going to make services like these while their software is notoriously buggy and hardware is outdated. My Apple Watch crashed and restarted without explanation in the time it took me to write the last paragraph. I know that different teams work on different things, but what matters in the end is where Apple puts their resources and focus. We wait for so long for updates with a laundry list of problems, only to have a small fraction of them checked off every few months, with new problems constantly being added. It's frustrating and I know Apple can do better. 

The Issue with Subscriptions

I do believe there are legitimate pros to having subscriptions to video streaming services. A few years ago, you'd have to actually buy entire seasons of TV shows to get the same experience we do today with streaming the same show. And the fact that many networks partner with cable companies to include on-demand video is great. But it gets annoying when so many companies keep asking for $10+/month. This isn't limited to just video. Adobe Creative Cloud is a prime example of this. Day One, a journaling app, now has a paid subscription model. Newton Mail, a mail client, now has a $50/year price point. Have you ever thought to yourself, "I would be willing to pay $50/year for a journaling app or a mail app?" No, because that's ridiculous. They could be the be the best journaling or mail client apps on the market, but I wouldn't pay that price for them. I understand that the buy once, own forever model doesn't make nearly as much money, but I will probably begin losing sanity the next time an app like one of these requires me to buy a subscription. I think it would be nice if there was one universal subscription that split the earnings amongst providers based on percentage of use. With news that Apple will soon have a TV streaming service and news subscription, the public perception of subscription-based products may change.

Apple In Talks With Major Newspapers About Texture Service

In March, Apple acquired Texture, a subscription service for reading magazines. According to Recode, Apple is attempting to get major newspapers on board with Texture. Texture currently uses a $9.99 per month model for access to various magazines. In the coming years, I wouldn't be surprised if Apple rebranded it and added it to their Apple News app. Whether newspapers would be interested or not is a different question. It will be interesting to see how they respond in the changing landscape of the newspaper industry.

Apple News Could Expand Publisher Options

According to Ad Age, Apple News may expand publisher options because publishers have been hesitant to adopt it as a platform. For cents a pop, Apple could use micropayments to give readers access to certain articles. Apple may also enable access to third-party ads to encourage publishers to monetize on Apple News.

Apple News To Deliver Exclusive, Early Content

Re/code editor, Peter Kafka, tweeted that a Wired article would be available on Apple News today. The article would be available on the rest of the internet on Tuesday. That's four days difference! Hopefully, we'll see more exclusive news on Apple News. This is some of the first that I've heard about.

New Wired feature about "starchitect Bjarke Ingels" exclusively on Apple News 3pm today. Available on Web Tues. pic.twitter.com/BK5za4zflu

— Peter Kafka (@pkafka) September 18, 2015

Add Tech Talk 4 Geeks To Apple News

With the big iOS 9 update today, the new Apple News app is available! If you frequent Tech Talk 4 Geeks, please consider adding it to the News app. Doing this not only supports Tech Talk 4 Geeks, but allows you to catch up on the latest news from Tech Talk 4 Geeks from the comfort of your iOS device. Please check it out and I hope you enjoy it.

iOS 9 Beta 3

iOS 9 Beta 3 came out today. This is an important beta. Apple Music is now available to developers running iOS 9 betas. More importantly, Apple News is now available. That also means that Tech Talk 4 Geeks is available on Apple News! That's right! Tech Talk 4 Geeks is available on Apple News. So be sure to follow that when you get iOS 9 [Direct Link]!