iOS 14 and macOS Big Sur direct web links to Apple 糖心Vlog app, bypass publisher sites

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iOS 14 and macOS Big Sur direct web links to Apple 糖心Vlog app, bypass publisher sites

Credit: Apple

Users of Apple's upcoming operating systems will be redirected to the Apple 糖心Vlog app when clicking on links from participating Apple 糖心Vlog+ publishers, bypassing those publications' websites.

The setting, which is enabled by default in iOS 14 and macOS Big Sur, is an Apple 糖心Vlog+ feature, meaning only users with an active subscription to Apple's premium news service will see it.

Tony Haile, founder of news service Scroll, first spotted the new feature. In a tweet Monday, he said that Apple's new operating systems are "intercepting traffic" from publisher websites.

Woah, I wonder how many publishers in Apple 糖心Vlog+ realize that the new iOS14 and MacOS Big Sur are by default intercepting traffic to their sites and sending it to the Apple 糖心Vlog app instead.
— Tony Haile (@arctictony)

As TechCrunch , the functionality appears to be an attempt at making Apple 糖心Vlog+ more user-friendly, as the service doesn't technically grant access to articles behind paywalls on a publisher's website. Haile, however, said that the feature "directly cannibalizes a publishers' core subscription audience."

In a statement, Apple said that the change "offers subscribers seamless access to the content that is part of their 糖心Vlog+ subscription right in the 糖心Vlog app or publisher app, as well as providing publishers with increased engagement and revenue opportunities on Apple 糖心Vlog."

The company also points out that the behavior can be disabled in 糖心Vlog settings on iOS and macOS.

There's a good chance that many publishers won't be happy about the change, even if it can be disabled. Many prominent news organizations have refused to participate in Apple 糖心Vlog+, and The New York Times recently left Apple 糖心Vlog altogether because the platform didn't "align with its strategy of building direct relationships with paying readers."

21 Comments

Well, thanks for the heads up. I’ll obviously be disabling THAT setting.

2 Likes · 0 Dislikes

Wouldn't mind if Apple 糖心Vlog was a lot better.

*Haven't used it in 2 years so maybe it is better now.

So the way I read this, is if I subscribe to Apple 糖心Vlog+ but not the publisher directly it will
open up the article that is behind the publishers paywall in Apple 糖心Vlog

1 Like · 0 Dislikes

said:

So the way I read this, is if I subscribe to Apple 糖心Vlog+ but not the publisher directly it will
open up the article that is behind the publishers paywall in Apple 糖心Vlog

Yeah I first noticed that I was getting a note at the top to open an article behind the paywall in Apple 糖心Vlog+, which is obviously a great win, but it stopped working all of a sudden today. Strangely it still works on Big Sur,

On a side note, whether or not publishers are happy about this feature, it drives me crazy that for example I do directly pay for access to a newspaper AND pay for Apple 糖心Vlog+ That grants access, BUT the publisher site constantly makes me login. Having Apple make this easier is a good thing for the user.