Class action suit against Apple filed on behalf of 1,500 app developers seeks $1 billion

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Class action suit against Apple filed on behalf of 1,500 app developers seeks $1 billion
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The last year or so hasn’t been kind to Apple in Europe. Thanks to bills passed on the continent, Apple is replacing the proprietary Lightning port on the iPhone with the standard USB-C port. And the European Commission’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) forces Apple to allow iPhone users to sideload apps starting on March 6th, 2024. This means that iPhone users in the 27 EU member countries will be able to install apps from third-party iOS app storefronts on or before that date.

There are two reasons why Apple doesn’t like sideloading

There are a couple of reasons why Apple doesn’t like sideloading. One, it allows iPhone users to install apps that haven’t been approved by Apple increasing the chance that some malware-laden software is installed on some unsuspecting iPhone user’s device. And two, it allows developers of apps offered by third-party iOS app storefronts to send their customers to non-Apple in-app payment platforms thus escaping the so-called Apple Tax. Apple takes 15% to 30% of the value of most in-app purchases and subscriptions and puts it in its own pocket as a “commission.”
The EC is in charge of enforcing the Digital Markets Act in member countries - Class action suit against Apple filed on behalf of 1,500 app developers seeks $1 billion

The EC is in charge of enforcing the Digital Markets Act in member countries

Companies that fail to comply with the DMA could be fined up to 10% of their annual global revenue. In Apple’s case, this would be a penalty as large as $39 billion based on the company’s 2022 revenue.

The latest bad news for Apple to come out of Europe revolves around a $1 billion class action suit filed against Apple by 1,500 app developers over its App Store fees. According to Reuters, the aforementioned 15% to 30% Apple Tax is the issue. The tech giant says that 85% of App Store developers don’t pay Apple any “commission” and that the App Store helps European developers market their apps in 175 countries around the world. But this doesn’t placate impacted developers.
The class action suit was filed by Sean Ennis, who works as a professor at the Centre for Competition Policy at the University of East Anglia and worked as an economist at the OECD. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of 1,566 app developers. Ennis said, “Apple’s charges to app developers are excessive, and only possible due to its monopoly on the distribution of apps onto iPhones and iPads. The charges are unfair in their own right, and constitute abusive pricing. They harm app developers and also app buyers.”

Apple is called a monopolist because of the App Store and the Apple Tax

Apple is being called a monopolist because, at least for now, it only allows iPhone users to install apps from the App Store. And it forces developers of apps in the App Store to process payments for most in-app purchases and subscriptions through Apple’s in-app payment platform. This is how Apple collects its 15% to 30% “commission.” And any developer that dares to challenge this by offering third-party in-app payment platforms to its users can be swiftly axed from the App Store.

The judge in the lower court case, Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, ruled that Apple is not a monopolist and that it should not be forced to include Epic Games’ app storefront in iOS. However, this ruling is only valid in the U.S. In Europe, Apple doesn’t appear to be as untouchable as it is in the U.S.


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Users will soon get the Google Assistant webpage summary feature

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Users will soon get the Google Assistant webpage summary feature
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Soon, Google Assistant users will get webpage summaries while they search for stuff online. This will be a very cool feature as it will simplify a lot of things for users around the world. Already, some experts have noticed lines of codes in the app’s APK files that point to the existence of such an amazing feature.

It is good to note that the announcement of the possible existence of this feature was not made by Google, making it unofficial. Instead, it was made by the folks at APK Insight after digging through the APK files of the Assistant app. While their interpretation of the features within the lines of code might be wrong, there is a strong chance that they might be accurate.

So, Android users can keep their fingers crossed and their hopes high in expectation of this feature. Once available, it will revolutionize how Android users browse the internet to search for specific information. This article will look into how this coming feature will be of any benefit once it becomes available for global usage.

Benefits of the coming Google Assistant webpage summary feature

Have you ever tried browsing the internet in search of a specific detail but got bombarded with tons of information? Sometimes the webpages that pull up after the search do not cover the topic in such a way that it answers your questions. Since there are lots of web pages, you might find it hard to pinpoint the best one, so you spend quality time reading through all web pages.

One set of people that face this challenge a lot are students in their quest for materials to complete an assignment or project. Well, the webpage summary feature will come to your rescue with the help of Google’s generative AI model. This feature will have the responsibility of summarizing a webpage, so users can understand its content without going through it.

Now, that’s a pretty nifty feature, and some users are already seeing the summarize button while browsing. By simply pulling up Google Assistant while on a webpage, some users get a summarize button. The button sits on the right-hand side of the Assistant interface while using the Chrome browser.

By tapping on the summarize button, users will get quick details on the information present on the webpage. At the moment, users seeing this button report that it doesn’t seem to work. But in the coming weeks, they might get to see it summarize webpages they visit while browsing.

One thing to be aware of is that this feature might only be available on the Chrome browser. Also, there are uncertainties about whether it will be a Pixel-exclusive feature once it becomes available. However, there is no question as to how useful this feature will be for users across the world.


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Effective strategies, email address verification, and the power of Deltadromeus

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Effective strategies, email address verification, and the power of Deltadromeus
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Introduction:

In today’s digital era, email marketing remains a powerful channel for businesses and individuals to connect with their target audience. However, before launching an email campaign, it is crucial to ensure the validity of email addresses. By verifying the authenticity of email addresses through reliable services or websites, such as the Deltadromeus Email Verification Service, you can enhance campaign effectiveness and maintain a positive sender reputation. In this article, we will delve into the significance of email address verification, the impact of bounced emails and spam filters, and provide additional tips to achieve success in your email marketing and newsletter campaigns.

The Importance of Email Address Verification and Deltadromeus:

Verifying the validity of email addresses is a fundamental step in email marketing. By utilizing a trusted service like Deltadromeus, you can ensure that the email addresses on your list are genuine and active. Deltadromeus employs advanced algorithms and comprehensive databases to verify the existence and deliverability of email addresses, providing you with confidence in the quality of your contact list. This proactive approach helps maintain a healthy sender reputation and significantly enhances the success of your email campaigns.

Understanding Bounced Emails, Spam Filters, and the Deltadromeus Advantage:

Bounced emails, whether soft or hard bounces, can impact the effectiveness of your campaigns. Soft bounces are usually temporary delivery failures caused by factors like a full inbox or a temporarily unavailable mail server. On the other hand, hard bounces indicate invalid or non-existent email addresses. By regularly monitoring bounced emails and promptly removing hard bounce addresses, you can maintain a clean and engaged subscriber list.

Moreover, spam filters play a crucial role in determining the deliverability of your emails. They analyze various factors, including content, sender reputation, and recipient engagement, to identify genuine emails versus spam. By employing Deltadromeus’s email verification service, you can ensure that your emails have a higher chance of bypassing spam filters and reaching the intended inboxes.

Deltadromeus’s rigorous verification process and reputation monitoring provide an added advantage in ensuring your emails are seen by interested recipients.

Additional Tips for Emailing and Newsletter Success:

In addition to email address verification and managing bounced emails and spam filters, consider the following tips to enhance the success of your campaigns:

Craft an Engaging Subject Line: The subject line serves as the first impression of your email. Make it compelling, concise, and aligned with the content of your email. Experiment with different subject lines, leveraging Deltadromeus’s insights, to identify what resonates best with your audience.

Incorporate a Clear Call-to-Action (CTA): Including a strong and focused CTA encourages recipients to take the desired action. Ensure your CTA stands out visually and communicates the value of your offering. Limiting the number of CTAs to one ensures a clear and impactful message.

Write to Interested People Only: Sending emails to a highly targeted and engaged audience is crucial for success. Deltadromeus’s verification process ensures that you are reaching interested individuals, reducing the likelihood of spam complaints and increasing engagement rates.

Personalize and Segment Your Content: Tailor your emails based on subscriber preferences and behaviors. Deltadromeus’s comprehensive data can help you segment your email list, allowing you to deliver personalized content that resonates with each segment.

Test and Optimize: Continuously test different elements of your emails, such as design, layout, and CTAs. Leverage Deltadromeus’s analytics to analyze the results and make data-driven decisions to optimize your campaigns for maximum effectiveness.

Optimize Email Timing: Timing plays a significant role in email engagement. Experiment with different send times and days of the week to identify the optimal timing for your audience. Use Deltadromeus’s analytics to uncover patterns in subscriber behavior, allowing you to schedule your emails for maximum impact.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, maximizing the success of your email campaigns and newsletters requires a combination of effective strategies, including email address verification, managing bounced emails and spam filters, and implementing additional tips for success. Deltadromeus’s robust email verification service can significantly enhance the accuracy of your email list, ensuring higher deliverability rates and improved sender reputation.

By crafting engaging subject lines, incorporating clear CTAs, personalizing content, and analyzing campaign results, you can continually optimize your email campaigns for better engagement, conversions, and overall success. Leveraging Deltadromeus’s reporting and analytics tools empowers you with valuable insights to make data-driven decisions and refine your email marketing strategies.


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TikTok launches text posts in an attempt to take on Twitter

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TikTok launches text posts in an attempt to take on Twitter
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Despite the social network bleeding users, Twitter’s owner, Elon Musk, took some questionable decisions over the weekend. After rebranding Twitter’s logo to “X” and promising to bring a bunch of new features that no one asked for, Musk’s is now facing another big problem: the stiff competition.

Meta’s attempt to take on Twitter hasn’t been entirely successful, as Threads still needs a lot of features to offer a similar users experience. But another contender to take Twitter’s place has just made its first step toward fulfilling its plans.

TikTok has just announced text posts, a new feature that offers users a Twitter-like experience. This will allow creators to share their stories and other types of content in a different, simpler way. The new feature is available starting today and doesn’t involve too many clicks to make it work.

When you access the Camera page, you’ll now be able to choose from three options: photo, video, and text. Tapping on the text option will direct users to the text creation page where they can type out the content of their post. It’s not as fast and smooth as tweeting a message but considering that TikTok is a video-first platform, this will have to do for now.

In addition to creating posts, TikTok users can also customize their content by including Sound, tagging a location, enabling comments, and allowing Duets. It will enrich the text posts and make them more dynamic beyond what Twitter offers currently.

For example, TikTok users can add stickers to their text posts, tags and hashtags, as well as background colors and sounds. On top of that, it’s also possible to save drafts and store them with other unpublished posts for later editing or discard them if you’re not content with how they end up.

It’s a neat new feature that will probably not attract many of Twitter’s users, since Musk’s social platform caters to a different type of audience, but you might as well try in out before the ship sinks just to have some alternatives to retreat to.


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Cisco Disclosed Vulnerabilities In SPA500 Series IP Phones

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Cisco Disclosed Vulnerabilities In SPA500 Series IP Phones
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Heads up, Cisco users! Cisco recently disclosed numerous vulnerabilities in SPA500 series IP phones, confirming that no workarounds exist for the flaws. Also, the firm has no plans to address the issues as these devices have reached their end-of-life. Therefore, users must consider getting rid of the vulnerable devices at the earliest.

Cisco IP Phones Vulnerabilities

In a recent advisory, Cisco described two different vulnerabilities affecting its SPA500 Series IP Phones.

SPA500 are Cisco’s small business IP phones offering affordable communications with numerous supportive features such as wideband audio, Bluetooth and WiFi support, etc. Their common usage in various big and small firms indicates the extent of impact of any exploits involving vulnerabilities in these devices.

According to Cisco, the first of these vulnerabilities include a cross-site scripting vulnerability (CVE-2023-20181). The vulnerability existed “due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input by the web-based management interface of the affected software.” Exploiting the flaw could allow an unauthenticated, remote adversary to execute arbitrary codes or access browser-based data. Whereas achieving this goal required the attacker to trick the victim user into clicking a maliciously crafted link.

The second vulnerability, CVE-2023-20218, includes an HTML injection due to insufficient user-input validation by the web-based management interface. A remote, unauthenticated adversary could easily exploit this flaw by tricking the victim into clicking a maliciously crafted link. Once done, the attacker could perform client-side attacks, such as injecting malicious redirections from the target web page.

The firm has acknowledged the researchers Ahmed Hassan and Josef Hassan of Titanium Cyber Security Solutions for discovering and reporting these vulnerabilities.

No Plans To Patch Flaws Due To Devices’ EOL

As explained in the advisory, both vulnerabilities received medium severity ratings and a CVSS score of 6.1. Also, the firm detected no active exploitation attempts for the flaws.

However, these flaws are important for the users because the firm has confirmed not to address these issues. That’s because the SPA500 IP Phones have reached their end-of-life. Consequently, no workarounds exist to mitigate the issues. Therefore, the only way for users to protect their networks from potential threats is to migrate to other devices.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments.


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You can now stream Android apps on your Chromebook

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You can now stream Android apps on your Chromebook
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People have been waiting for the ability to stream their Android apps to their Chromebook for over a year. Now, the wait is coming to a close, as app streaming for ChromeOS is now out of beta testing, according to Engadget. However, there’s a bit of a catch for the time being.

Last year during CES, Google introduced us to app streaming for ChromeOS. This is a feature that allows you to stream an app directly from your Android phone to your Chromebook.

When you use the feature, you’ll see the app represented on the right side of your screen. You can interact with the app directly on your Chromebook, so you don’t need to wake up your phone to interact with it. Also, this gives you the mass majority of the functionality of the app. You can use the app and navigate to other apps if need be. For example, if you’re in Threads, and you choose to open a link in Chrome, it seamlessly navigates to Chrome so that you can use it.

The things that you can do are the obvious ones. These are the functions that require the phone’s hardware to function. So, don’t expect to use the camera app or something like Snapchat.

What’s neat about this feature is you don’t need to open the app on your phone first. When you open the app on your Chromebook, it will automatically open on your phone in the background. Just know that if you close the app on your phone, it will close on your Chromebook. Also, if you bring the app to the foreground on your phone, it will close on the Chromebook.

You can stream apps to your Chromebook, but it’s still limited

So, this is a fun capability, but it’s still new, so there are some limitations. For the time being, there aren’t many phones that are compatible with this functionality. For the time being, you can only use this feature on a Pixel 4a or later. Also, you can only use it with the Xiaomi 12T, 12T Pro, 13, and 13 Pro.

As for the Chromebook, Google didn’t specify any model or company. It just needs to be running the latest stable version of ChromeOS M115. Make sure that your Chromebook is up to date.


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North Korean Hacker Group Breached US IT Firm JumpCloud

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North Korean Hacker Group Breached US IT Firm JumpCloud
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The cloud-based IT management firm JumpCloud was compromised by North Korean Lazarus Group hackers who appear to be financially motivated to steal cryptocurrencies.

Since at least 2009, this hacking group has been active, and it is well recognized for its international attacks against prominent targets, including banks, governments, and media organizations.

The company revealed that a nation-state actor was responsible for the system breach that compelled it to reset its clients’ API keys in June.

The company did not identify the country of origin of the hackers at the time, but now researchers at cybersecurity firms CrowdStrike and SentinelOne have identified the hackers as Lazarus, a well-known group known for attacking crypto entities like the Ronin Network and Harmony’s Horizon Bridge. 

Additionally, Tom Hegel of SentinelOne verified that the indications of compromise (IOCs) given by JumpCloud are “linked to a wide variety of activity we attribute to DPRK.”

He stated North Korea was responsible for the intrusion and speculated that the hackers might also be responsible for a recent social engineering effort that targeted GitHub users.

Mandiant incident responders also blamed North Korea for the breach. Also, the renowned Lazarus hacking group’s “Labyrinth Chollima,” a subgroup that was also connected to the recent supply-chain hacks on corporate phone manufacturer 3CX, has been blamed by CrowdStrike for the JumpCloud attack.

Specifics of the JumpCloud Breach

JumpCloud found a breach of its systems by a sophisticated nation-state-sponsored threat actor on June 27th due to a spear-phishing attempt.

JumpCloud quickly cycled credentials and rebuilt compromised infrastructure as a precaution, even though there was no immediate proof of a customer effect.

Later the reports say JumpCloud discovered “unusual activity in the commands framework for a small set of customers.” It also examined logs for indications of malicious activity and forced the rotation of all admin API keys while working with incident response partners and law enforcement.

JumpCloud gave information about the incident and revealed indications of compromise (IOCs) in an alert that was issued on July 12 to assist partners in securing their networks against assaults from the same group.

A North Korean APT group carried out the assault in June, JumpCloud has now confirmed.

According to Bob Phan, JumpCloud CISO, “Importantly, fewer than 5 JumpCloud customers were impacted and fewer than 10 devices total were impacted, out of more than 200,000 organizations that rely on the JumpCloud platform for a variety of identity, access, security, and management functions. All impacted customers have been notified directly”.

Stay up-to-date with the latest Cyber Security News; follow us on GoogleNews, Linkedin, Twitter, and Facebook.


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Sony Xperia 5 V leak could hint at lower price

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Sony Xperia 5 V leak could hint at lower price
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Sony isn’t exactly known for making affordable smartphones, but a new video leak of the Sony Xperia 5 V suggests that Sony may be changing its tune just a little.

The leak, which is originally from Reddit user u/JB2unique and spotted by Android Authority, shows what appears to be an ad spot for Sony’s upcoming device. And there’s a pretty significant change to this phone that may be pointing to the lower price point. Based on the leaked video, it looks like Sony’s Xperia 5 V will only have two rear cameras.

Of course, this doesn’t mean Sony will charge less money for this phone. However, every other device in the series has had a triple camera array for the rear sensors. And with one less camera, the phone might cost Sony less to make. Which in the end could result in a lower cost to the consumer. At least that’s the logical conclusion to come to. Of course this isn’t a confirmation from Sony. And even with a lower price it may still be more expensive than competing phones.

Xperia 5 V video leak shows off more than just the cameras

Sony Xperia 5 V Video Leak (1)

It’s not an in-depth review or anything like that, but the video leak does show off a couple of other interesting details. This would appear to be the first good look at the phone’s official design. Which, surprise, doesn’t look all that different from the last phone in the series. It has the same beveled edges on the frame with rounded corners. And the same vertical pill-shaped camera housing, save for the third sensor.

And judging from the video it looks like there’s at least one confirmed color. White. You can also see that there’s ZEISS T branding on the camera housing. At the very end, there’s a brief moment where you get a glimpse of the more sustainable packaging Sony looks to be using for the device. It’s minimal and has a low footprint. So not a lot of packaging is going to waste here. And if nothing else, there’s at least something commendable about trying to minimize the packaging for your products to be more sustainable. Even if the products can cost a lot.

 

Xperia 5 V
by u/JB2unique in SonyXperia


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Adobe Patched Critical ColdFusion Zero-Day Flaw Under Attack

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Adobe Patched Critical ColdFusion Zero-Day Flaw Under Attack
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Adobe released an emergency security patch for ColdFusion, addressing a critical zero-day vulnerability. The tech giant warned users of active exploitation of the flaw, urging users to update their systems as soon as possible.

Active Exploitation Detected For Adobe ColdFusion Zero-Day

Adobe’s recent security bulletin highlights addressing a critical-severity zero-day flaw affecting Adobe ColdFusion.

ColdFusion is Adobe’s proprietary software development platform facilitating rapid web application development. The platform includes an integrated IDE and full scripting language. It helps develop diversified applications from data-driven sites to remote services such as WebSockets, REST services, SOAP web services, etc.

According to Adobe’s advisory, the service has addressed three vulnerabilities in the tool. One of these, CVE-2023-38205, is a critical-severity flaw with a CVSS score of 7.5. Adobe confirmed this vulnerability as a zero-day, detecting its active exploitation in “limited attacks.”

The firm has not shared details about this vulnerability besides listing it as a security feature bypass due to improper access control. However, researchers from Rapid7 reported the matter in detail when they noticed active exploitation attempts chaining the previously patched vulnerabilities CVE-2023-29298 (discovered by Rapid7) and CVE-2023-38203 (discovered by ProjectDiscovery). The researchers observed that the patch for CVE-2023-29298 didn’t completely fix the issue, leaving space for adversaries to exploit the flaw.

Following this discovery, Rapid7 swiftly reported the matter to Adobe, which then included the patch for CVE-2023-29298 with CVE-2023-38205.

The other two vulnerabilities fixed with the latest ColdFusion release include a critical code execution vulnerability due to the deserialization of untrusted data, CVE-2023-38204 (CVSS 9.8), and a moderate severity security feature bypass, CVE-2023-38206 (CVSS 5.3).

Adobe listed the following software versions as vulnerable to the flaws.

  • ColdFusion 2023 (Update 2 and earlier)
  • ColdFusion 2021 (Update 8 and earlier)
  • ColdFusion 2018 (Update 18 and earlier)

Whereas the firm patched the issues with ColdFusion 2023 (Update 3), ColdFusion 2021 (Update 9), and ColdFusion 2018 (Update 19). Users must update their systems to these versions to receive the patches accordingly.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments.


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Netflix rolls multiple features into My Netflix tab on mobile

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Netflix rolls multiple features into My Netflix tab on mobile
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Netflix is hoping you’ll forget about the password sharing crackdowns with the launch of its new feature called the My Netflix tab. It’s a “one-stop shop tailored to you with easy shortcuts to help you choose what you want to watch,” the company says in a blog post.

Basically, the My Netflix tab is taking the place of downloads in the mobile app. Downloads will now be rolled into the new tab along with a handful of other features the service offers. Tapping on the new tab, you can find not only your downloads, but a host of content you’ve interacted with. Including shows and movies you’ve liked, things you’ve added to your list, and reminders.

It even contains a carousel of trailers you’ve watched on the platform. That last one could actually be quite useful. Had you watched any trailers for content you think you might be interested in. But forgot to add to your list.

The My Netflix tab rolls out to iOS users today, and Android soon

My Netflix Tab Feature (2)

Netflix is rolling out this new feature beginning today, but only for iOS users. The company says iOS users can find the My Netflix tab in the app from today. But Android users won’t have access to it until August.

The company doesn’t mention a specific time for the Android arrival of the feature. So if you’re looking forward to it, it might be best to just assume it’ll show up at the end of the month. That way if it shows up earlier you can be excited that it’s available sooner than you were expecting.

Netflix says the more you tell it what you like, the more you’ll see on this new tab. So think of it kind of like recommendations. Where the recommendations for content pop up the more you watch stuff on Netflix as it tries to learn what content to serve you. For now this seems to be an iOS and Android only feature. Which means you shouldn’t expect it to show up on the website, or the apps for other platforms like consoles or smart TVs.


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