I switched off after having found that its privacy settings prevent extensions like Dark Mode from reading your dark mode status in the OS. There's a workaround but I might as well use something else.
The store came to be as an "f you" to Apple, as evident from the email exchanges at the time. The 1984 trailer from Fortnite seemed to be in the same vein. I don't think that particular trailer was for the purpose of promoting the EGS, as there's not a single hint to the store in the video or its standard placement.
If it were purely self-serving, they'd agree to settle with Google on special terms similar to those offered to a number of other publishers. Court proceedings last for years, as would be obvious to Sweeney, so sacrificing years of revenue for the distant prospect of having to pay 0 to the platforms is easier explained as being ideological than a business decision.
We know WhatsApp uses the Signal protocol for encryption, but it also collects a lot of metadata. Arguably still better than Telegram that collects everything. Its secret chats may be e2ee but nobody uses them even for discussing sensitive matters, and they don't work on the Desktop.
It didn't return any search results during the Bing outage, as experienced by me personally and reported by others. At least one blog post claims it relies on Bing.
There are already precedents of software (the Riot games) and the OS itself refusing to work if the requirements are bypassed, so it's a very risky move that nobody should choose for their main OS.
Meanwhile Lemmy.World moderator Rooki:
(comment source, thread archive)