this post was submitted on 02 Jan 2026
216 points (99.5% liked)

Duolingo

116 readers
1 users here now

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
top 43 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] partial_accumen@lemmy.world 72 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Didn't Duolingo fire most of its developers and claim to replace them with AI. Well, I doubt agenic AI clicked the "I agree" to the Apple Developer "Terms of Service" and is therefore no bound to Apple's silly rules for humans. Checkmate Apple! /s

[–] Anivia@feddit.org 6 points 3 months ago

I guess that means me never clicking "I agree" on the MacOS ToS makes my Hackintosh Thinkpad legal 😁

[–] procrastitron@lemmy.world 42 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I saw this and immediately disabled DuoLingo’s ability to display live activities.

That was the only way to make it go away.

[–] athatet@lemmy.zip 28 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Just get rid of it altogether.

[–] bonenode@piefed.social 8 points 3 months ago

Yeah, can't imagine it is still a useful app for anything, it enshittified so unbelievably much already half a decade ago.

[–] TBi@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago (2 children)
[–] lohky@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

A pre-AI apk of Duolingo and ReVanced

[–] plz1@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

Can't run an apk on iPhone, the topic of this..

[–] Soapbox@lemmy.zip 2 points 3 months ago
[–] cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com 28 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Oh, those rules are for lesser developers, the ones who aren't providing Apple with tons of revenue. I'm sure Duolingo will be just fine.

[–] reddig33@lemmy.world 17 points 3 months ago (2 children)

This is one instance where Apple should be throwing its weight around.

[–] aivoton@sopuli.xyz 5 points 3 months ago

I fear that the owls checkbook decides the outcome.

[–] cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 3 months ago

Agreed, but they won't. They have a bunch of rules like this and they're happy to go after small developers who don't contribute much beyond their annual fees, but big developers who bring in money? They tend to look the other way a lot of the time.

[–] DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 22 points 3 months ago (1 children)

So, are they guidelines, or guidelines. Because, if they're just guidelines, then they can be ignored. But if they're guidelines, then I suppose Apple will make them stop.

[–] egrets@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago (1 children)

The article is five paragraphs including a quote, and it answers this question.

[–] BlackVenom@lemmy.world 8 points 3 months ago (1 children)

You're a bird, you don't know what it says.

[–] egrets@lemmy.world 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

egrets, respect my plurality

[–] fishos@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

How many, exactly, are we talking? I need to know whether to be terrified in awe or to grab an umbrella to shoo them away.

[–] ApathyTree@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

I gotta say I do love the little Dynamic Island thing, it’s a genuinely good and novel use of what would otherwise be dead space, and it works like absolute magic. I’ve never had an iPhone before this one, and I certainly won’t have another one after it, but that’s one of the few features I genuinely enjoy.

That said, now that I know about this, the moment something tries to send notifications through it not related to what’s actively happening on my device, whatever app will be immediately uninstalled. I haven’t come across that yet since I try to avoid most apps, and almost all of them have notifications disabled, but I absolutely wouldn’t keep something that uses that space for something unimportant. Or even worse, ads.

[–] verdi@feddit.org 11 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Or, hear me out, not having a notch is wildly better than surrendering screen real estate to shit designers that prioritise form over function. (This applies to Apple, Samsung, Google, et al, except for sony and some other smaller brands).

[–] TheOakTree@lemmy.zip 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Having had a phone with a notch and a phone with a small circle cutout, the notch bothered me and the circle cutout has hardly been an issue. I mean, I'd prefer an uninterrupted screen and a front camera, but I don't like any of the current iterations of retracting selfie cameras, and I need a front camera for video calls.

EDIT:

I forgot about under-screen cameras. My options would be limited to RedMagic phones, Sony phones, and the Samsung Z-Flip. Maybe I'll look into Sony next, since I heard the RedMagic software can be pretty awful.

[–] verdi@feddit.org 2 points 3 months ago

If you go the way of Sony, in Europe, the 1 VI is heavily discounted and is 99% of the phone the 1 VII is. The VI still gets 3 major android version updates, till 17.

[–] ApathyTree@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

Ok. I mean sure. But since it’s there, I like the workaround. It makes useful space that’s seamlessly integrated and thus doesn’t feel like wasted space. I don’t feel like there’s a camera cluster there wasting my screen space. Because that part of my notification bar has always been empty (I genuinely hate notification clutter, so on android my top bar was always basically empty just like this is)

I’m willing to make sacrifices as long as they are done well, and compared to every phone I’d had before this one, it’s nice to see it used. It compares favorably to my past experiences.

I’m not an apple person, this is the only Apple device I’ve ever had, other than a first(?) generation 2gb iPod way back in the day, and I don’t plan to get another walled garden device. So not fanboying or anything, and I have far more complaints than praises for this pos, but it’s a good way to wrestle back a bit of space without having to make any major design changes. I’m ok with that.

[–] W98BSoD@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

“…and I don’t plan to get another walled garden device.”

So a Linux phone then? Because Google’s putting up walls real quick. And selling your data out from under you.

[–] ApathyTree@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Sure, if there’s one available that can function as a daily driver and is user-repairable when I need a new phone. Or if more devices get support for alternate privacy-focused OS options, a used phone could be a real possibility.

But I might not bother with a smartphone at all if there aren’t better choices than now. I have a host of other things I can use to browse the internet and do most stuff I presently do on this tiny screen, and I’ve cut way way back from how much I even use this. Only issue would be GPS, but old devices work for that just as well as newer ones, as long as you download the maps.

[–] W98BSoD@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] ApathyTree@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 2 months ago

Yeah, that’s why I said if there is one when I’m ready to get a new phone. That’s likely several years away, because I don’t plan to buy more stuff if I don’t have to, so one might exist by then. I know there’s been some progress on that front, just not a ton.

[–] verdi@feddit.org 0 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (3 children)

To this day I'm flabergasted that Sony is the only company that still knows how to design phones.

*Heres a magic screen with sapphire protection to avoid scratches and a bajillion nits because fuck battery life. Oh, btw, its costs north of 1000€.

  • Uh, there's like 150 dead pixels on the screen

*Oh silly you, it's a camera notch,

  • Wait, so why the whole schtick about how amazing the screen is when you deliver it with lost real estate that is the equivalent to falling on a rock from a height of 4m?

*Shut up peasant, you don't know design.

  • Sorry, thank you for letting me pay weeks of disposable income to own a factually broken screen because your engineers are too shit to achieve an under screen cam! ciau bellos
[–] JamesBoeing737MAX@sopuli.xyz 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Well, they were great until the V generation. Just look at those phones now. Plus the price is horrendous.

[–] verdi@feddit.org 2 points 3 months ago

Agreed. They did have a consistent design. Now it looks like it hates its users.

[–] ApathyTree@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 3 months ago

Cool. Idk why you are ranting at me about it tho. Like I don’t even like my phone outside of a few neat or well-done things it can do.

[–] dogdeanafternoon@lemmy.ca -1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I’ve read a lot of dumb takes on here, but this one might be the best.

[–] verdi@feddit.org 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] dogdeanafternoon@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Ah yes, because I don’t think a brand new phone is broken I’m the crazy one?

Makes so much sense. Dumb fuck.

[–] verdi@feddit.org 0 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

dumb fuck

Classy, I guess education failed to cross the Atlantic.

It's funny tho, because Apple itself covers warranty over dead pixels. A notch is the equivalent of how many dead pixels?

But of course, I'm the dumb fuck, not the iZealots.

You people really are a deadweight on humanity.

[–] dogdeanafternoon@lemmy.ca 0 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Yes, calling an intentional design choice dead pixels is extremely dumb fuck behavior. I know it’s hard for you to recognize this, but it is in fact true.

I love how many assumptions you make, just because you can’t stand being wrong. It’s quite humorous actually.

Also, you begin the name calling, and then play the victim when I throw it back at you. Pretty common among dumb fucks.

[–] verdi@feddit.org 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

What does one call screen real estate that doesn't display or is otherwise dark?

Humans: Dead pixels

iZealots: Free real estate

I wonder if iDiot is what apple uses as an internal codeword for the religious freaks that fawn over their products 🤔

[–] dogdeanafternoon@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

It doesn’t matter how much you call it a broken screen, you’ll still be wrong.

Imagine if you had an actual argument, rather than continuing with your logical fallacies.

Nobody is fawning over anything. You are being incredibly more irrational on your “Apple Bad” stance than I am. I never even said I like apple. I literally just said an intentional feature, by definition, is not broken. You’re literally a caricature.

You don’t like it, and would rather have a shitty under screen camera? Fine. That exists, go get it. I know you might be sad to hear this, but the world doesn’t revolve around you. Companies aren’t making products just for you. They are making products that appeal to people. That comes in various shapes, sizes, form factors, and features. The fact that you can’t understand this is absolutely mind boggling.

Do you have any actual argument? Or are you just going to continue with your ad hominem attack?

[–] verdi@feddit.org -1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

You can write a book about you izealot theories. Facts are facts. Watch how the "not problematic" "not broken screen" becomes a full screen once Ap can copy under screen cameras from someone else. Keep preaching your religious dogmas as much as you like, delusional people are like that. I'll be back to this comment when Apple releases an USC phone to enjoy your dogmatic excuse then.

[–] dogdeanafternoon@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Facts are facts lol you’ve said none. You keep attacking me, and not saying a single fact. Did you know that opinions aren’t fact?

You ignore every point I make.

You’re literally fucked in the head my guy. I’ve talked to some wackos on here, but you take the cake.

I’ll be blocking you now, cause you are a troll, and not interested in any sort of actual discussion. Enjoy your miserable life.

Dumb fuck.

[–] verdi@feddit.org 0 points 3 months ago

You keep attacking me

Dumb fuck.

MAGA is leaking North, which explains a lot.

See ya at Apple's USC reveal for their phones in the future. Meanwhile, cope harder with paying over 1k for dead pixels iZealot.

[–] MadMadBunny@lemmy.ca 4 points 3 months ago

That lil’ owl is getting way too cheeky

[–] Flamekebab@piefed.social 1 points 3 months ago

I don't think guidelines can be violated. They're not rules.