I just checked the client and looks like it rolled everyone who was in family beta back to “No beta chosen”. That’s actually what I meant with that question, and I wasn’t clear enough.

To originally get the new family sharing to work, I needed to select the family sharing beta build, but it automatically seems to have put me back on the “normal build” since this feature rolled out.

Does this mean we can “opt out” of the families beta and just use the main client again?

He is nothing but a narcissistic asshole.

Apple Maps sure had a rough start back in the day, but I will always use that over Google/Waze. It’s just so much better now and no worries about this type of junk.

It worked just as you described it, but having actual buttons helped use it in the car easier. The Car Thing was simply a remote control of sorts for Spotify using Bluetooth to connect to the phone. The phone itself is what connected to the Internet and your car.

I’m sure a phone mount would work, but I was just curious if there was something similar that others used.

For reference, I bought my Car Thing for about $50 in 2022 and was able to get 3 months of credit for my family premium plan ($17/mo x3 = $51), so in essence a complete refund.

As much as it sucks to lose the Car Thing, I’m happy with this outcome at least. Anyone recommend a good replacement for an older car?

Definitely need more subsidies or grants for domestic research. Though I don’t see the government owned company idea working mainly due to how capitalism is implemented here. The government tends to not directly compete with private entities.

Fully agree with clamping down (via higher taxes or something similar) on the giant vehicles and the loopholes they can abuse today.

I would think that the winning move would be to impose enough tariffs to offset the foreign government subsidies, yet still promote some competition.

Working on distracting from actual high speed rail projects.

My point is people saying “Spotify doesn’t pay artists enough so just pirate everything” is disingenuous. Nothing about paying for a platform (Spotify, TIDAL, Apple, YouTube, etc.) precludes you from supporting artists through other means as well.

The second point didn’t imply that this is the o ly way to discover music, but it absolutely is an avenue where many people discover new artists.

Of course they do, but those suggested options are the same for Spotify users too. I’m not seeing the connection here unless you’re saying Spotify users are less likely to buy merch or tickets. Pirate what you want, but trying to spin the argument this way is just disingenuous.

Edit: and to add to this, I would argue that platforms like Spotify and other subscription models are key ways for new people to be introduced to a bad. (Short of having your song blow up on something like Tik Tok of course)

So instead of having the artists make the small per stream income, you suggest they get $0? Buying their releases/merch/tickets is irrelevant to the platform. If anything, the model of these streaming platforms is just further shifting to advertisement for artists to drive people to shows.

The alternative is to outright ban it. Tik Tok is a cancer directly controlled by a hostile nation state. The government absolutely has the right to block foreign interference like this.

While I don’t have a smart washing machine, I use a smart power outlet to let me know when the laundry is done, remind me if the load is still sitting in the washer without moving to the drier, etc.

Definitely some legit use cases to make the process smart.

Well, if you look at that argument from the US government perspective, a US company vs a China one certainly warrants a different approach. I mean, I wish we had broader social media level data protections, but that’s not what this is no matter what spin is being applied.

It’s not a “could spy”, it’s a definitely spies. Yes, it sucks that we don’t have broader social media reforms and controls in place, but allowing a foreign hostile government this much direct access to US citizens is a bridge too far.

Ties not just to “a company in China”, but directly to the Chinese government.

For better or worse, and how other US platforms operate, Tik Tok is controlled by a hostile (to the US) nation state.

Keep in mind that China also blocks many US company products/platforms for their own reasons, so this is not at all a surprise.