Apple is Coming After Substack and the Email Newsletter Industry

At WWDC 202, Apple announced Mail Privacy Protection, which removes tracking pixels from emails. These are used by newsletter services to let the sender see how many people open a message, how often, and when. Thanks to the likes of Substack and Revue, this industry has seen a recent boom, and Chris Stokel-Walker investigated for Wired how Apple’s move might affect them and others.

The decision is made all the more significant when you take into account Apple’s stranglehold on the email ecosystem. Between the iPhone and Apple Mail apps, more than 60 per cent of all email accounts are opened in a piece of software controlled by Apple… The worry among newsletter publishers is that at a stroke, Apple is about to do the same thing to the newsletter industry, removing one of the major benchmarks upon which newsletter advertising is sold – and therefore, the production of newsletters is funded.

Trimming the iPhone App Fat — Mac Geek Gab 869

What’s the best way to remove all those iPhone apps you downloaded once and never use anymore? Listen as John and Dave answer this and many other helpful questions to make your electronic lives easier! Extending an iMac’s life, calibrating your TV, fiber internet, and more are the subjects your two favorite geeks dig through. Add in some Cool Stuff Found and you’re guaranteed to learn at least five new things just from pressing play!

Do Attachments Last Forever? — Mac Geek Gab 829

What happens to Mail attachments in your archive? Have you ever done a three finger drag? How do you manage your trash can? We mean *really* manage it? All these questions — and a lot more — are answered for you this week as Dave and John pour through the mailbag and help you learn at least five new things. Press play and enjoy listening as your two favorite geeks help make it all happen!

Apple Disputes Zero Day Found in Apple Mail

Apple disagrees with a report from security company ZecOps that found an exploit that took advantage of the default iOS Mail app.

In the now-disputed report, ZecOps had said the critical flaw was located in the Mail app and could be triggered be sending specially manipulated emails that required no interaction on the part of users[…]

The critics said if the exploit was able to delete the emails ,it would have been able to delete the crash log data as well. The critics said that failure and some technical details contained in the ZecOps report strongly suggested the flaw was a more benign bug that was triggered by certain types of emails. Also skeptical, the critics said, is that an advanced exploit would cause a crash at all.

An interesting update to this saga. The bug certainly caused these devices to crash, but it remains to be seen whether that resulted in stolen data.

A Festivus for The Geeks in Us – Mac Geek Gab 794

Cool Stuff Found galore begins this episode, because that’s the spirit of the holiday season. Equally as important, though, are the airing of the grievances, and Mail.app provides a healthy platform for that…with some hints and tips, to be helpful, of course. After all, we each need to learn at least five new things! That’s not all: there are more tips and questions and answers here to enjoy, as well. Press play and join John, Dave, and the rest of the MGG Family for this week’s episode.