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Reading Apps
February 20, 2025 | Author: Maria Lin
2025. Google Play Books purchases on iOS now can be done without App Store’s commission
Google has managed to wrangle permission to sell its e-books and audiobooks directly through its Google Play Books app on iOS. This is, of course, a bit like being given permission to breathe, but only after filing the appropriate paperwork in triplicate. Historically, iOS apps have been allowed to display content you purchased elsewhere—like a book you heroically hunted down on the vast and treacherous plains of the internet—but actually directing users to a website to make a purchase has required a special dispensation from Apple, presumably written on parchment and delivered by a messenger on horseback. Now, thanks to an announcement that was likely drafted with a certain amount of quiet glee, Google has revealed that users will be able to click a handy little “Get book” button, which will whisk them away to the Google Play website, where they can finalize their purchase using their Google Account and saved payment details, all while carefully sidestepping Apple’s infamous 30% toll. This, naturally, is a development that Apple will watch with the enthusiasm of a cat observing a rival feline encroach upon its sunbeam.
2025. Smashing - AI-powered app for reading articles
Smashing, a new application curating the finest of the web from Goodreads co-founder Otis Chandler, is now accessible to the public. Like Goodreads, the app aims to build a community around content. But this time, instead of books, the emphasis is on web content — such as news articles, blog posts, social media updates, podcasts and more. Additionally, Smashing is unveiling an AI Questions feature that enables you to interact with the content being shared in various ways, including by viewing a news story from alternate perspectives or asking the AI to critique the story, among other things. By exploring different facets of a story, you can see how both the political left and right perceive the topic. Or, in the case of a company’s stock, you might be shown both the optimistic and pessimistic viewpoints.
