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TikTok is ramping up penalties for creators who post potentially problematic content and tightening its rules around what can be recommended in the app. The updates arrive as TikTok is fighting for its future in the United States and trying to convince lawmakers and regulators that its app is safe for teens. Under its updated community guidelines, set to take effect in May, TikTok has added a long list of content thats not eligible to be recommended in the apps coveted For You feed. The list includes some obvious categories, like sexually suggestive or violent content, but it also adds topics that have previously been a source of controversy for the app. For example, the new guidelines bar videos showing dangerous activity and challenges, as well as many types of weight loss or dieting content. It also prohibits any clips from users under the age of 16 from appearing in For You. Theres also a lengthy section dedicated to a wide range of misinformation and conspiratorial content. From the guidelines: -Conspiracy theories that are unfounded and claim that certain events or situations are carried out by covert or powerful groups, such as "the government" or a "secret society" -Moderate harm health misinformation, such as an unproven recommendation for how to treat a minor illness -Repurposed media, such as showing a crowd at a music concert and suggesting it is a political protest -Misrepresenting authoritative sources, such as selectively referencing certain scientific data to support a conclusion that is counter to the findings of the study -Unverified claims related to an emergency or unfolding event -Potential high-harm misinformation while it is undergoing a fact-checking review In addition to the eligibility changes, TikTok says it will also begin to penalize creators who repeatedly disregard this guidance by making their entire account ineligible for recommendations, not just the specific offending posts. The company will also make their account harder to find in search. Additionally, the app is getting a new account status feature, which will help users track if they are running afoul of these rules. Much like the feature of the same name in Instagram, TikToks account status will alert creators to strikes on their account and posts that run afoul of the apps rules. And an account check feature will allow users to track if they are currently being blocked from recommendations or otherwise unable to access features like messaging or commenting as a result of breaking the apps rules.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tiktok-is-trying-to-clean-up-its-for-you-recommendations-210057825.html?src=rss
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It hasn't been long since Apple started allowing retro game emulators on the App Store. We've already seen one notable controversy after the company pulled Game Boy emulator iGBA from the storefront. It turned out that iGBA, which hit the top of the download charts, was a near carbon copy of another emulator submitted for review. GBA4iOS developer Riley Testut claimed that iGBA was a "knock-off of GBA4iOS" that was packed with ads and trackers. As it turns out, Testut's Delta, a successor to GBA4iOS, is now available for free in the App Store. The original emulator picked up some buzz a decade ago after Testut found a way for iPhone users to sideload the Game Boy Advance emulator without having to jailbreak their device. Apple eventually closed the iOS loophole and, of course, Nintendo was none too happy about the emulator. However, you can now download Delta free from the App Store directly without having to worry about sideloading. Along with GBA titles, the app supports NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color and Nintendo DS games, with the promise of more platforms to come. The app supports third-party controllers, as well as quick saves, cheat codes and data syncing between devices using Google Drive or Dropbox. There's even local multiplayer for up to four players, though you'll probably want to use an iPad or mirror your phone to your TV in that case. You'll need to supply any games you want to play on the emulator. To stay on the right side of the law, you'll need to dump games that you already own into ROM files. While iPhone and iPad users outside of the EU can snag Delta from the App Store directly, the process is a little different for those who live in the bloc. Testut is also behind a third-party app marketplace called AltStore, which iPhone users in the EU can now more easily install a version of. Europes coolest alternative app marketplace is HERE!Introducing AltStore PAL an Apple-approved version of AltStore exclusive to the EUDownload now from our website for just 1.50/year (+ VAT) https://t.co/3ZfYbq4QNU pic.twitter.com/D5cbkWhi7l AltStore.io (@altstoreio) April 17, 2024 AltStore PAL is an open-source marketplace that includes Delta as well as another app that Testut developed called Clip, which is a clipboard manager. The latter requires a small donation of at least one Euro to use. Testut noted that he and his business partner Shane Gill plan to open up AltStore PAL to other third-party apps after making sure that everything runs smoothly. That said, AltStore PAL costs users 1.50 per year. That covers the Core Technology Fee Apple charges for each download of an app marketplace, as well as payment processing. Alternatively, you can use the previous version of AltStore, but you'll still need to use a computer to sideload apps and refresh them once per week.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nintendo-emulator-delta-hits-the-ios-app-store-no-sideloading-required-201158987.html?src=rss
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Marketing and Advertising
Amazon published a blog post on Wednesday providing an update about its Just Walk Out technology, which it reportedly pulled from its Fresh grocery stores earlier this month. While extolling Just Walk Outs virtues as a sales pitch to potential retail partners, the article lists a startlingly minuscule number of (non-Amazon) stores using the tech. There are now more than 140 third-party locations with Just Walk Out technology in the U.S., UK, Australia, and Canada. Mind you, that isnt the number of companies or retail chains licensing the tech; thats the total number of locations. Nor is that the tally in one state or even one country. In four countries combined with a total population of about 465 million Just Walk Out is being used in more than 140 third-party locations. On average, that means theres one third-party Just Walk Out store for every 3.3 million people in those four countries. (They must be busy!) By contrast, there are over one million retail locations in the US, and, as of 2019, Starbucks had 241 locations in New York City alone, and there are over one million Amazon had reportedly already planned to remove Just Walk Out tech from its Fresh grocery stores for roughly a year because it was too expensive and complicated for larger retail spaces to run and maintain. The company now pitches its tech as ideal for smaller convenience stores with fewer customers and products like its own Amazon Go stores, which it has been busy shutting down over the last couple of years. Amazon The company reportedly gutted the team of developers working on Just Walk Out tech earlier this month. (You get one guess as to how the laid-off workers were instructed to leave the office.) As part of recent layoffs from Amazons AWS unit and Physical Stores Team, the company allegedly left only a skeleton crew to work on the tech moving forward. A skeleton crew to maintain a skeleton sounds about right. In fairness, some of those locations are at high-traffic venues. That includes nine merch stores at Seattles Lumen Field (home to the Seahawks and Sounders), near Amazons headquarters. Delaware North, a large hospitality and entertainment company, has opened more than a dozen stores using the tech. Amazon says stores adopting Just Walk Out have reported increased transactions, sales and customer satisfaction. Despite the reported gutting of Just Walk Outs development team, Amazon says it continues to invent the next generation of this technology to improve the checkout experience for large-format stores. Its next steps include improving latency for faster and more reliable receipts, new algorithms to recognize customer actions and new sensors better. If the reports about layoffs are accurate, the handful of remaining Just Walk Out developers will have their work cut out for them.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-says-a-whopping-140-third-party-stores-in-four-countries-use-its-just-walk-out-tech-191649492.html?src=rss
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