2025-05-17 05:49:29
Nice updates for the next FediForum: keynote by Cory Doctorow and a what’s new on the open social web session by Laurens Hof of the Fediverse Report.
2025-05-17 00:54:25
Curtis Herbert is back with another Slopes Diaries post, making the argument that Apple’s 30% cut is worth it, but that external payment links will also open new opportunities.
I think the perspective on this topic varies between developers partly based on whether you expect users to randomly discover your app in the App Store, or whether you’re building a service outside the store and the mobile app is just a companion to that. Much of Curtis’s framing is around discovery in the App Store:
Remember, your goal when trying to convert a sale is to try to cause as little friction as possible. Make the user think as little as possible. “Enter your credit card information for this random app to start your free trial” is hardly frictionless compared to IAPs.
There are many advantages to Stripe other than the lower fees. There’s more control and flexibility across the board. Also you get paid daily instead of waiting over a month for Apple to cut a virtual check, as if developers are kids waiting for their monthly allowance.
Apple’s in-app purchase works really well for Slopes. That’s great. For Micro.blog, I’m not convinced there’s much of an advantage. Very few people want to start a new blog and think, “First I’ll search the App Store.”
Developers are in the best position to know what marketing and payment options will work for their app. The whole point of these changes — from the EU’s Digital Markets Act to the judge’s ruling in the Epic trial — is to put the decision back in the hands of developers where it belongs.
2025-05-17 00:36:34
Didn’t realize until this week that the RSS.app feeds support RSS and JSON Feed. Very cool. I’m starting to use it to follow a couple Twitter / X folks from the AI industry. Hate giving X any attention, though.
2025-05-16 06:10:52
Sheldon Lake State Park. The ponds used to be part of a fish hatchery, then closed in 1975 and let nature take over. We saw some alligators. 🐊
2025-05-15 04:41:10
With OpenAI adding 4.1, I’m having to think a little too much about which models I should be using. I generally use o4-mini for coding, 4o for simple, fast questions. What now? I expect GPT-5 will help consolidate some of these choices.
2025-05-15 02:29:54
Josh Miller has an update on the Dia browser, in a series of posts on Twitter / X. For a company with “browser” in its name, wouldn’t mind seeing a blog post of this instead of on X. 🤪 Some very interesting screenshots in the thread, though. I’m excited to try it.