TikTok, Apple and Google Antitrust - DTNS September in Review  ## Metadata - Author: [[Daily Tech News Show]] - Full Title: TikTok, Apple and Google Antitrust - DTNS September in Review - Category: #podcasts - URL: https://share.snipd.com/episode/c7afe248-8c7e-42a9-8694-0880e2c3122f ## Document Notes ## Highlights - **TikTok Deal Is Tentative And Timeboxed** - The U.S. proposed a deal to spin out a U.S. TikTok with ByteDance holding 19.9% and Oracle keeping data duties. - China had not confirmed the deal by the episode, leaving the outcome uncertain before the January deadline. Transcript: Tom Merritt We're not going to redo the entire month's coverage of TikTok if you're like, oh, great, if you listen all the time. But just to, you know, just to recap people up real fast, we now have the U.S. Saying there's a deal. China is not saying there's a deal as of this recording. But the deal has until January 23rd to be completed, according to an executive order from the U.S. If the reporting is to be believed, this will end up with ByteDance having a 19.9% stake in the US version of TikTok, and ByteDance will operate e-commerce marketing and liaise with The international version of TikTok to make sure it's all working smoothly. The US company would not be majority owned by any one investor, but would handle the data, which Oracle already does. So that's no change there, as well as get a lease to the ByteDance algorithm, retrain it on US user data and handle the weighting of moderation. So if somebody is going to put a thumb on the scale to push a particular point of view, it'll be the US company that does it, not ByteDance. Yeah, that slowly trickled out all month long. We heard things that didn't end up being true, but honestly, most of the stuff we heard seems to be playing out, but we still don't have China confirming the deal. So we don't really have a deal yet. ([Time 0:05:30](https://share.snipd.com/snip/db51e88e-de13-4aa1-93c4-68a38e2b72c7)) - **Executive Order Pauses Enforcement** - The executive order temporarily permits Apple and Google to keep distributing TikTok despite the earlier divestiture deadline. - The order pauses enforcement through January 23rd while the proposed deal must be completed. Transcript: Tom Merritt This is the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act for those who like to have the bill properly. It's very subtle. As I keep reminding people, in January, I think it was the 19th, that law required ByteDance to either divest TikTok in the US or it would be illegal for anyone to distribute it. But what the president has done is issued an executive order saying, Apple, Google, you can distribute it. I won't come after you. It basically instructs the attorney general, don't enforce this law, but it's actually technically illegal. ([Time 0:07:08](https://share.snipd.com/snip/7d4d9ff3-68c6-45df-9a34-7731a2495490)) - **Pro Max User Notes Reception And Camera Gains** - Amos bought an iPhone 17 Pro Max and noticed better reception and camera improvements as a photographer. - He reports improved battery life compared to his iPhone 15 and no scratches with a case. Transcript: Tom Merritt Yeah, yeah. We've had a few weeks now, a couple of weeks here. Amos (guest) Amos, which phone did you get? I got the 17 Pro Max in Carcass. Cone orange. Tom Merritt Do you have any scratches? I do not. Because there's the whole, that's our launch controversy is that the Pro Max is the one that gets the scratches. Amos (guest) You put it in a case and it notifies it completely. So, um, I will say that my, my quick review, I've noticed better reception. I'm a Verizon customer. I've noticed better reception in some places that were kind of deadish zones. Um, and the camera, the differences in the camera are noticeable, but maybe only because I'm a photographer. So yeah, that's positive. Jenn Cutter That's the reason to get the pro or the pro max is if you want the improved camera. Tom Merritt So it sounds like you were the right market to get it. Yeah. Amos (guest) And of course, battery life is, is better, but I'm coming from a, from a 15. Okay. Yeah. So you made a nice job there. Yeah, but even my 15 still had 95% battery left because I keep it on the don't charge past 80%. But yeah, it's been fine. Wait, how did it have 95% if you told it not to charge past 80% No, 95% battery life left when I told it not to charge past 80%. Okay, so on your battery health screen. ([Time 0:13:37](https://share.snipd.com/snip/5946749b-dcad-4cb1-a9af-74ea0f361765)) - **Watch Upgrade Lets Features Return** - Tom upgraded from Apple Watch Series 6 to Series 11 and could restore features previously turned off due to battery issues. - He now uses always-on display, haptics, and notifications without running out of battery daily. Transcript: Tom Merritt Right. Uh, that's my big, uh, uh, advantage of the Apple watch series 11, uh, which is upside down. That's because I wear it on my right hand. It is got better battery life. I went from the Series 6 to the Series 11. And the Series 6 couldn't make it through the day. I had to turn off everything. I had to turn off the always on screen. I had to turn off notifications and haptics. And I had to lock that thing down to even get it through the day. So I've been slowly going through the process of turning everything back on like, Oh, right. How can I have haptics back on? I can leave it on always on. Um, that is my big advantage is I could turn all that stuff back on and still make it through the day on battery. Uh, honestly have not no noticed a whole lot else. There's, like a feature that came with it that made me go, ooh, now I can do this. But it doesn't mean I'm disappointed. It's just a few people told me like, oh my gosh, going from the five to 11, your mind's going to be blown. And maybe it still will, but I haven't yet. My mind is still intact. ([Time 0:15:34](https://share.snipd.com/snip/65079d43-85ea-40b4-a1cf-ccf373ed1cd6)) - **AirPods Pro 3 Earn Strong Early Praise** - AirPods Pro 3 received strong reviews for improved comfort, weight, and noise cancellation. - Positive early sales and audiophile praise signaled consumer enthusiasm despite skepticism about earbuds. Transcript: Tom Merritt I thought were interesting. AirPods three being so well reviewed. We had Nate Langston on DTNS Live at the end of the month just raving about it. And he's like an audiophile. He's very into sound quality. And he had the AirPods 2, Pro 2. And he said, yes, I really think the noise canceling is amazing. I think the sound quality is better. And all the reviewers just raving about the AirPods Pro 3. I was surprised by that. Jenn Cutter Yeah, it caught my attention. I don't like earbuds. Just as a general thing, like on TV when you're trying to use the IEM, and I'm like, do I have to? But people have said that the changes made for the comfort and the weight. And then for people who are really using the live translation feature and other accessibility options, I'm like, ah, do I go try to find a way to try these? Tom Merritt Would I be used to putting them in? See, Nate isn't even allowed to use the live translation because he lives in the UK and it hasn't launched there. So he's still raving about him. Even without that, that's just going to make him rave even more once he gets it. Jenn Cutter Oh, still in here. I just, that, that's a me problem. That's not an Apple problem. Tom Merritt Sales were better out of the gate than for the 16, which I thought was very telling. ([Time 0:18:37](https://share.snipd.com/snip/a017c003-9ff3-4bce-94bc-16ed683df310)) - **Tell The Show What You Want** - Send feedback to the show if you want the month recap to evolve or have story suggestions. - Use Discord, Patreon, Substack, or [email protected] to share input. Transcript: Tom Merritt Here's what would make it even better. We really want you to tell us what you like or what you would like to hear from it. Jenn Cutter We'd love hearing from you in general, indeed always take your feedback uh ([Time 0:21:11](https://share.snipd.com/snip/6c910d22-0871-4132-80d9-fa24f313b68c)) - **Google Ordered To Open Search Distribution** - Court order bars Google from exclusive bundling of Search, Chrome, or Gemini and forces limited data sharing for Play Store partners. - Google must syndicate search data for five years and allow competitors one-time snapshots to improve indexing. Transcript: Tom Merritt Right at the beginning of the month, Google got the sentencing over its domination of search advertising. This is separate, as I always say, from a second U.S. Antitrust case over ad exchanges. We were supposed to get a final order on that by the end of September. And September's still got a few more days as we're recording this, so maybe it'll squeak in and we'll talk about it in the October wrap-up, but it hasn't happened yet. Anyway, we did get the sentencing for search advertising. And here's what it is to recap for you. Google may not make exclusive deals to distribute Google Search, the Chrome browser, or Gemini in a way that would prevent the distribution of rival products. It also can't require the use of those products. If a company wants to carry the Google Play Store, it has to share some search index data and user interaction data, though not ads data with rivals to help them compete better. Qualified competitors can buy a one-time snapshot of data at marginal cost so that they can, and I quote, identify and crawl more web pages with valuable content and do so more efficiently. And Google will have to syndicate search, but gets to set its price above marginal cost. And they only have to do that for five years. DOJ wanted them to do it for 10. ([Time 0:22:42](https://share.snipd.com/snip/5676cd2e-4ff8-4be3-a872-445a4cd37f41)) - **Syndication Is Short-Term And Search Is Shifting** - The syndication remedy lasts five years and Google can set prices, limiting long-term builds on the data. - Tom argues search is declining as AI summaries and overviews become the primary user interface. Transcript: Tom Merritt We were expecting Google to appeal this by now, and they haven't. Yeah. Jenn Cutter With all the things that happened, I thought that being told, oh, separate Chrome was a long shot. With all the data that is going to be available to qualified competitors, I don't think they'll be able to jump on improvements immediately. But as this shakes out, especially over the next five years as the mandatory thing, again, unless there's appeals, I would love to see better search and better data and more useful things Come out of search as a result of this. Tom Merritt Yeah, it's probably not gonna. Jenn Cutter I could hope though. Tom Merritt Here's the thing. Perplexity just opened up its API to everybody and it's probably going to be cheaper because Google gets to set the price of that API. And that syndication was only going to last five years anyway. So you weren't going to want to build a long-term business on it unless you had an exit plan for when they stopped offering it to you in five years. So I just don't think that many people are going to take that much advantage of it. And search is the dying part of the business, right? It's the AI overviews. It's the, it's the summarization and stuff that, that is the future. And there's no order for them to share that kind of thing. ([Time 0:24:05](https://share.snipd.com/snip/0a1652d4-a5dd-4287-b066-73c07299ccd3))