published = 2025-01-19T08:00:00-05:00
updated = 2025-01-19T08:00:00-05:00

New year, new Switch, new Severance

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 67, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, happy Switch week, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)

This week, I’ve been watching Black Doves and The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, reading about Lorne Michaels and rodeos and Ben Shapiro, restarting Twin Peaks in honor of David Lynch, wading nervously into Lemon8 and RedNote, catching up on old episodes of Working It Out, and watching altogether too many Balatro strategy videos.

I also have for you my most anticipated gadget of the year, the new season of Severance, an incredibly cool tech design exhibit to explore, a nifty new AI productivity tool, and much more. This week has been wild, with the potential TikTok ban and the upcoming US inauguration and seemingly 40,000 other things happening — but we’ve got some great ways to decompress. Let’s dive in.

(As always, the best part of Installer is your ideas and tips. What are you reading / watching / playing / cooking / building / cutting into small pieces this week? Tell me everything: installer@theverge.com. And if you know someone else who might enjoy Installer,...

Read the full story at The Verge.

published = 2025-01-19T08:00:00-05:00
updated = 2025-01-19T08:00:00-05:00

The tech to build the holodeck

Gaussian splatting, a new way of capturing 3D content, is taking the AR / VR industry by storm — and could one day allow anyone to create photorealistic 3D worlds.

Read the full story at The Verge.

published = 2025-01-19T02:27:39-05:00
updated = 2025-01-19T02:27:39-05:00

Apple says it’s following the law by removing TikTok from the App Store

With TikTok, CapCut, and Marvel Snap shut down in the US, Apple has taken the unusual step of articulating why it’s following the law banning ByteDance apps and removing them from the App Stores for the Mac, iPhone, and other devices.

Before the ban went into effect, the Biden administration released a statement saying enforcement of the law “must fall to the next Administration.” Still, it didn’t stop the law from taking effect this weekend after TikTok’s appeal to the Supreme Court failed.

The support page from Apple says:

Apple is obligated to follow the laws in the jurisdictions where it operates. Pursuant to the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, apps developed by ByteDance Ltd. and its subsidiaries — including TikTok, CapCut, Lemon8, and others — will no longer be available for download or updates on the App Store for users in the United States starting January 19, 2025.

It goes on to say that people who already have the apps installed won’t have them removed, but at least for the time being, redownloading or restoring them on a new device will not be possible, along with making any in-app purchases or subscriptions, but subscriptions can be canceled.

Meanwhile, people who visit the US from other countries where they’re still available won’t be able to download or update apps while inside US borders.

Apple also provided a list of “some” of the apps linked to ByteDance that are affected:

• TikTok
• TikTok Studio
• TikTok Shop Seller Center
• CapCut
• Lemon8
• Hypic
• Lark - Team Collaboration
• Lark - Rooms Display
• Lark Rooms Controller
• Gauth: AI Study Companion
• Marvel Snap

Now, more than an entire day is left before the Trump administration is sworn in. TikTok pushed for a more definitive statement about the legal risks providers like Apple and Google might face for defying the law in the meantime, but it never came as the White House called TikTok’s response a “stunt.”

Now Apple is making clear that until something changes, it’s following the law as written, and it appears Google is doing the same thing. Google, Apple, and TikTok have not responded to requests for comment from The Verge.

published = 2025-01-19T00:17:13-05:00
updated = 2025-01-19T00:17:13-05:00

Marvel Snap is banned, just like TikTok

The divest-or-ban law aimed at TikTok is also taking down other ByteDance-linked apps, including the popular card game Marvel Snap. The app suddenly cut off access Saturday night, seemingly without warning, surprising gamers who weren’t aware of its connection to ByteDance.

The card game battler set in the Marvel universe is developed by Second Dinner, which is based in California. But the game is published by Nuverse, a company owned by ByteDance. As a result, it’s subject to the same shutdown order.

In a statement on X, Second Dinner called the takedown a surprise and said, “Marvel Snap isn’t going anywhere. We’re actively working on getting the game up as soon as possible and will update you once we have more to share.”

Just before the calendar turned over to January 19th, 2025, the game disappeared from the App Store for iPad and iPhone players and from Google Play for players on Android. For players on PC, the game is still listed in Steam at the moment, but many players are reporting they were signed out and can’t sign back in.

An in-game message now tells players:

Sorry, Marvel Snap isn’t available right now

A law banning Marvel Snap has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use Marvel Snap for now. Rest assured, we’re working to restore our service in the U.S. Please stay tuned!

Oddly, unlike TikTok, it doesn’t appear that players were given much warning about the law’s effect, and many people may not have realized it was even connected to ByteDance, including people who were still spending money on in-game items expecting to be able to keep playing it.

Other ByDance apps quickly disappeared from app stores along with TikTok, including Lemon8 and CapCut. The effect on other ByteDance-linked apps is mixed; however, it may take time to remove them. The Lark app that offers a Slack-like collaboration platform was available initially but has now been removed, while other Nuverse-published games, like Earth: Revival - Deep Underground and Ragnarok X: 3rd Anniversary, are still available in the App Store as of this writing, just after midnight ET on the 19th.

Update, January 19th: Noted reports that Marvel Snap PC players can’t log in and added a statement from game developer Second Dinner.

published = 2025-01-18T22:57:35-05:00
updated = 2025-01-18T22:57:35-05:00

TikTok ban: all the news on the app’s shutdown in the US

TikTok shut down US access on January 18th, just before the law banning it took effect.

Read the full story at The Verge.

published = 2025-01-18T22:35:21-05:00
updated = 2025-01-18T22:35:21-05:00

TikTok shuts down in the US

TikTok has gone dark in the US now that the ban-or-divest law passed last year is taking effect. The app has been removed from both Apple and Google’s app stores, it’s unavailable on the web, and users who open the app are blocked from viewing videos.

The shutdown has the astonishing effect of removing a social network used by 170 million people in the US, according to TikTok’s own numbers. While other social media platforms have experienced outages, even prolonged ones, no network as big as TikTok has simply shut down without any indication of if or when it will come back online.

This is despite the Biden administration saying it’s passing enforcement responsibilities on to the Trump administration and calling TikTok’s threat to go offline a “stunt.” TikTok has insisted that without clearer assurances, it has to close up shop in the US.

Inside TikTok, a memo to employees said that, “President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office” on January 20th and that “teams are working tirelessly to bring our app back to the U.S. as soon as possible.”

A warning message started appearing in TikTok’s app around 9PM ET on Saturday evening telling users of the pending shutdown:

We regret that a US law banning TikTok will take effect on January 19th and force us to make our services temporarily unavailable.

We’re working to restore our service in the US as soon as possible, and we appreciate your support. Please stay tuned.

The app began blocking users around 10:30PM ET. A message now appears saying the app “isn’t available right now” but that the company expects a resolution under President-elect Trump:

Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now

A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now.

We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!

Several other apps owned by TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, have also been taken offline, including the video editor CapCut and the social platform Lemon8.

Screenshot: The Verge

The ban-or-divest law, which goes into effect on Sunday, effectively bans TikTok unless ByteDance sells much of its stake in the company. But ByteDance has shown little sign of being willing to sell, even as the deadline rapidly approached. Instead, TikTok sued the US over the law, ultimately losing in a Supreme Court case this past week.

TikTok’s new strategy appears to be relentlessly pandering to Trump, who, despite initially calling for the TikTok ban, has recently indicated that he wants to find a way to keep it around. Earlier today, he floated a 90-day extension of ByteDance’s deadline to sell.

The political game of hot potato, where no one wants to be seen as responsible for banning TikTok, suggests that the app may not be gone for good. But with no definitive plan coming from Biden, Trump, ByteDance, or TikTok, it’s unclear exactly how long the ban could hold.