Monday’s Top Tech News: Twitter’s Third-party Client Ban Seems Like No Accident

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Plus new rumors about the fifth Galaxy Fold.

By Verge Staff

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Although Twitter is yet to issue an official statement on why most major third-party clients broke last week, it increasingly seems as though the outage is intentional. The Information reported over the weekend that the outage is no accident, meaning Twitter has effectively just kneecapped several apps designed to help people use its service without having the decency to let their developers know. I think John Gruber says it best when he calls this behavior “absurdly disrespectful.”

ICYMI, my colleague Alex Heath wrote up an interesting analysis piece about who in the world could actually be brought in to lead Twitter if and when Elon Musk steps down as CEO.

In gadget news, Samsung is reportedly developing a new hinge design for its fifth-generation Galaxy Fold device (due to be announced later this summer) that could decrease its visible screen crease when unfolded. I’m generally of the opinion that display creases aren’t particularly visible when you’re actually using existing foldables, but making them less visible should help the devices feel more premium.

For now, here’s a silly tweet to start your day.

Stay tuned, as we continue to update this list with the most important news of today: Monday, January 16th, 2023.

Here’s the full trailer for season three of The Mandalorian.
Pedro Pascal already had one major premiere over the weekend as The Last of Us started airing on HBO / HBO Max.
Now Disney Plus has released a full trailer (following an earlier teaser full of some familiar faces) for the next season of The Mandalorian. Season three will debut March 1st.
Netflix just got a flashy redesign on the iPhone.
Check out this video from Janum Trivedi, formerly a senior software engineer at Netflix, as he demonstrates the streaming service’s revamped iOS app that rolled out today — and that he had a hand in making. The new UI is so fluid. So responsive. So… bouncy? Yeah, maybe even “delightful.”
If only Netflix would show similar love to the stagnant Apple TV app.
Trivedi now works on the team behind the promising new Arc browser.
Amazon reportedly plans to part ways with Jeremy Clarkson.
According to Variety, Prime Video may no longer work with the Top Gear presenter after he made hateful comments about Meghan Markle in a column in The Sun. The company may still carry out seasons of The Grand Tour and Clarkson’s Farm that have already been ordered, however.
When it rains Samsung leaks, it pours.
Samsung leaks always become a deluge once they get started. After leaked images allegedly showed us the upcoming Galaxy S23 and S23 Ultra, WinFuture now has some fresh images that purport to show some S23 cases. Shockingly, they look like phone cases. Though, I’ll admit, I dig that the nifty folio with a cutout for notifications is now a mini-wallet too.
The lightning rods of the future may be giant freakin’ laser beams.
Here’s an interesting read from The Wall Street Journal. Scientists are testing if large laser pulses can cause anticipated lightning strikes to land safely away from people and sensitive infrastructure — like airports. The technology tested atop a Swiss mountain is showing promise, even if it may be a way’s off.
Microsoft’s Activision deal faces EU scrutiny.
Microsoft is reportedly likely to face objections from the European Commission to its $68.7 billion deal to acquire Activision. Reuters reports that the European Commission is preparing a statement of objections to the deal, which will be sent to Microsoft in the coming weeks. Microsoft may be forced to offer more concessions to the EU, after it tried to ease concerns with a 10-year deal offer for Call of Duty to Sony and an agreement with Nintendo.