Episode 71 – Snapchat Redesign, Apple’s New Stylus Patent, and GitHub Leaks Apple Source Code
This week your hosts Kyle, Rai, and Min discuss a few controversial happenings in the digital world as well as an exciting new Apple product that could be on the market in the near future. Don’t forget to tune in to the Digital Natives Podcast every Friday for the latest discussion about design, marketing, and technology!
Snapchat Redesign [7:45]
Apple’s New Stylus Patent [12:00]
GitHub Leaks Apple Source code [15:00]
Snapchat Redesign
In January Rai predicted the downfall of Snapchat, and if the early buzz about the app’s redesign is anything to go by, she may be onto something. Last week, Snapchat released a major update that overhauled the entire design and usability. Snapchat users are not happy with this change calling it confusing and threatening to delete the app if they don’t fix it. Will users get used to the new Snapchat quickly enough, or is this truly the beginning of the end?
“I got the new Snapchat update about two days ago and it is really weird. People online are not liking it. There’s always a backlash when a big redesign happens, but people are really hating this one.” -Rai
“Your snaps and stories aren’t listed chronologically anymore which is super annoying, but that’s how a lot of social media is working now. I don’t want someone to tell me who they think I should interact with.” -Rai
“Through the discover page, you can also get to Snapchat’s new Snapstore which seems like it’s paving the way to bust into the e-commerce realm.” -Rai
“Right now, only Snapchat branded things are in the new Snapstore, but I can see this quickly expanding to other items and companies.” -Rai
“Someone told me that Snap Inc. stock went up considerably after this release, so investors are looking at it positively even though the public isn’t enjoying it.” -Rai
Apple’s New Stylus Patent
Apple is already in the stylus game with the Apple Pencil, but a patent filed recently might take that to the next level. Min tells us about a mysterious new patent that Apple filed about 6 months ago for a stylus that could write in mid-air! Although not much is known about the design, we had fun speculating how it might work and what the possible uses for this device might be.
“It would no longer require you to have a device with a touch-sensitive surface. It’s kind of mind-blowing just thinking of it.” -Min
“The content that you create is generated by tracking position and/or the movement of the device, so contact with a surface won’t be necessary.” -Min
“In the illustrations in the actual patent, they showed computers and phones, so they’re breaking away from the fact that the Apple Pencil can only be used with the iPad Pro.” -Min
“The patent was filed over 6 months ago, so who knows how far along they are in development with this.” -Min
GitHub Leaks Apple Source Code
Kyle gives us the scoop on a recent security breach that could affect anyone with an iPhone. Last week, some Apple code was leaked on GitHub, a public website used to share open source code. Although it has since been taken down, the code is already out there and could have the potential to cause trouble for the company itself and iPhone users alike.
“Nothing like this has ever happened before, so Apple had to invoke the law and confirm that this was, in fact, the code that was stolen.” -Kyle
“The big problem with this is that it was root code that was stolen. For new iOS versions, Apple builds upon the original code, so if there’s a security breach, all versions could be affected.” -Kyle
“This breach isn’t likely to affect anyone with an iPhone that is already activated. For new activations, someone could potentially route the electronic signature used to activate the phone to another entity.” -Rai
“For people that are interested in jailbreaking their phone, this could actually open up a lot more possibility.” -Kyle
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