If you live in south Texas and are missing an iPad you might want to read this story.
Meta, X, and Snap are celebrating a new Utah law that will require Apple and Google to take responsibility for verifying users’ ages on their app stores and obtain parental consent for minors.
The tech giants have been battling to determine which party should be responsible for age verification on the app stores. Companies like Meta believe the app stores themselves should verify users’ ages because these entities host and distribute the apps. The app stores, however, argue that companies making the apps should bear the responsibility as they’re the ones offering the product to end users.
Utah isn’t the only state considering some such legislation around age verification; it is the first to enact a law of this kind. The App Store Accountability Act, as the new law is called, was passed by Utah’s legislature earlier this month, then headed to Gov. Spencer Cox’s desk for a signature to make it official.
Ahead of the law’s passing, Apple announced a new set of child safety initiatives for its App Store, which include an age-checking system for apps. Its implementation would allow app developers to use a new Declared Age Range API to access age range information provided by the parent. This information doesn’t provide the app developer with the minor’s exact age or birthdate, but allows them to customize their app experiences appropriately based on the age range provided.
Apple’s system requires the app developers to do the work of requesting the age range before an app is used, rather than the App Store verifying the age at the time of download.
Not surprisingly, social media companies are thrilled the new Utah law would require app stores to verify users’ ages before apps can be downloaded onto their devices.
In a joint statement, Meta, X, and Snap praised Utah’s move, saying:
We applaud Governor Cox and the State of Utah for being the first in the nation to empower parents and users with greater control over teen app downloads, and urge other states to consider this groundbreaking approach. Parents want a one-stop-shop to oversee and approve the many apps their teens want to download, and Utah has led the way in centralizing it within a device’s app store. This approach spares users from repeatedly submitting personal information to countless individual apps and online services. We are committed to safeguarding parents and teens, and look forward to seeing more states adopt this model.
In total, 16 U.S. states, including California and Texas, have introduced their own versions of app store legislation focused on age verification and youth safety.
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The Lumon Terminal Pro — the computer used in Apple TV’s hit series “Severance” — has appeared on Apple’s retail website. When shopping Apple.com, you’ll see the new device, adorned with a red “New” label, when you click to view the available Mac computers Apple has for sale from the top-level navigation.
But sorry, “Severance” fans: The Lumon terminal computer isn’t actually for sale.
Instead, its appearance on the retail website serves as an advertisement for Apple’s streaming service, Apple TV+, which is available as a free three-month trial with any purchase of a Mac computer. The streaming offering is a part of Apple’s growing services business, which grew by 4% in the most recent quarter to reach $26.34 billion, helping push Apple’s gross margin to the highest on record.
Given its pop culture appeal, the Cupertino-based tech giant has been heavily marketing “Severance,” now Apple’s most-watched TV series ever, with a number of official tie-ins, including free e-books on Apple Books, a “Severance” podcast with Ben Stiller and Adam Scott, a LinkedIn profile for Lumon Industries (the fictional company in the show), a “Severance”-themed playlist, an NYC pop-up, and more.
On Wednesday, the company also showcased how one of the show’s editors, Geoffrey Richman, uses an iMac, Mac mini, and MacBook Pro to work on the series, whether on location, at home, or on the go.
Alongside the Lumon Terminal Pro listing, there’s a link to a short film offering a behind-the-scenes look at his editing process.
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