Tech Roundup: TikTok Login Kit, Twitter Tip Jar & More

[A recurring feature on the latest in Science & Technology.]

• Twitter begins widely rolling out improved prompts that "encourage people to pause and reconsider a potentially harmful or offensive reply — such as insults, strong language, or hateful remarks — before Tweeting it"; officially introduces Tip Jar, allowing users to send tips to a limited group, including creators, journalists, experts, and nonprofits. (It's worth noting that when users receive tips via PayPal using the Tip Jar feature, it also leaks the sender's address stored in PayPal to the recipients.)
• Internal emails released as part of the legal tussle between Apple and Epic Games show that the company considering giving Netflix special treatment to convince the streaming service to not abandon in-app purchases, calling out that it went out of its way to feature Netflix on the App Store more than any partner and that content written about the streaming service's shows had boosted its downloads by 6-7%.
• Apple's 30% commission on many in-app purchases is central to its legal battle with Epic Games, which has accused the App Store tied to iPhones and iPads of being a monopoly. To that effect, it comes as no surprise Netflix did abandon in-app purchases in December 2018. Interestingly, Apple even appears to have broached the possibility of cutting its commission rate to 25 or 20% as early as 2011 in response to competition.
• That's not all. The iPhone maker is also said to have cut special deals with video platforms like Hulu and other developers to grant them access to a subscription cancel/refund API not generally available to third-party developers, giving a rare insight into its business practices. Also included is Zoom, which has been given access to a special iPadOS API that allows the app to use the iPad camera while the app is in use in Split View multi-tasking mode. "This capability is enabled by means of an entitlement," according to app developer Jeremy Provost.
• Apple has long said that the App Store provides a "level playing field" that treats all apps in the App Store the same with one set of rules for everybody and no special deals or special terms, but it's clear that some developers are more equal than others and are indeed provided with extra privileges.
• Nintendo Switch hybrid game console's sales hit 84.59 million units to date, with 28.8 million sold in the past year alone.

• Google to start automatically enabling two-factor authentication (called two-step verification by the search giant) for all users where it's "appropriately configured" with a simple tap via a Google prompt on their smartphones during sign in; to follow Apple's footsteps with new privacy label information in the Play Store starting next year, requiring developers (including Google) to disclose their data collection practices.
• Netflix is reportedly surveying users about their interest in features such as podcasts and user-generated playlists of shows and music, for a project called N-Plus, which it describes as an "online space where you can learn more about the Netflix shows and things related to them."
• Privacy-oriented web browser Brave adds a new Playlist feature to its iOS app that lets users queue music and videos on the web.
• ByteDance-owned TikTok broadens its integrations with third-party apps with two new tool sets for app developers, the TikTok Login Kit and Sound Kit, that will allow apps on mobile, web and consoles to authenticate users via their TikTok credentials, build experiences that leverage users' TikTok videos and share music and sounds back to TikTok from their own apps.
• Music streaming service Spotify patents technology that will allow it to analyse users' voice and suggest songs based on their "emotional state, gender, age, or accent"; the company says never it implemented the emotion recognition recommendation engine, adding the decision to patent the technology was "influenced by a number of other considerations, including our responsibilities to our users and to society at large."
• Apple announces "Search tab campaigns" for App Store, a new ad slot that lets developers promote apps alongside the Suggested list of results, confirming earlier reports of the company's plans to expand its advertising efforts.
• Zynga acquires Chartboost, a mobile programmatic ad service reaching over 700 million monthly active users, in an all-cash deal worth US$ 250 million; says the purchase will help it grow as Apple's IDFA changes roll out in iOS.
• Facebook sets its sights on Nextdoor with new Neighborhoods feature in Canada and select U.S. cities, a "dedicated space within the Facebook app designed to help you connect with your neighbors, participate in your local community and discover new places nearby."