Pocket-lint daily - Strava Apple Health issues, HBO Max, and more

Good morning! By Stuart Miles | Wednesday March 16 2022 Good morning! - If you're enjoying the email, why not get a friend to sign up too, so they can also be in the know? Get them to [sign up here.]( Strava briefly flicks the kill switch on Apple Health syncing but then u-turns Pocket-lint What's happened? Earlier in the week, Strava enforced a back-end change to its service which effectively cut off third-party devices syncing with its platform. This left a lot of Apple Watch users [unable to close their rings]( because data that was once flowing to Apple Health subsequently wasn't. It has since reverted the decision and re-enabled the feature. Why does it matter? At the time, Strava justified the decision by claiming it wanted to prevent doubling on activity uploads. However, user backlash saw the company respond by reversing its plans: "Our attempt to prevent duplicate activity uploads from posting to Strava created unintended consequences for our athlete community," ot told popular running site DC Rainmaker. "After listening to their feedback and assessing the situation we have decided to turn syncing back on for third-party applications to Apple Health.” What's my take? If you've gotten used to your connected fitness device sending exercise data to your Apple Fitness app so you can complete your rings, this probably affected you. As it did myself. Strava had clearly had enough of people freeloading on the service, plus developers of services such as Zwift and Hydrow using it as a workaround to having to deal with Apple for a direct connection. It just didn't realise the uproar it would cause within the community. While the situation has now been "fixed", this has highlighted how easy things can break or be broken when you rely on other parties to complete the loop. Now, having been presented with the shock of what could happen, it will be interesting to see whether companies that were affected will scramble to cut Strava out of the loop going forward. HBO Max and Discovery+ to combine as one streaming service Unsplash What's happened? Warner and Discovery will soon merge, forming the Warner Bros Discovery group, and an executive has revealed plans for their respective Discovery+ and HBO Max streaming platforms to [merge]( too. Why does it matter? The CFO of the combined companies has confirmed that preparations are underway to bring the streaming services under the same banner, although didn't give a timescale What's my take? Does this mean we've reached the "peak" for streaming services? Probably not. It does show though how the new combined company feels that it will have a greater chance to competing against the likes of Disney and Netflix if it works as a single offering compared to two distinct packages with two distinct brands to market. Regardless of how long it takes before we see others following suit, consumers who like both Discovery+ and HBO Max should benefit from the combined platform. Let's just hope that the new company won't simply double the price to cover the new service. A MESSAGE FROM SPONSOR 6 reasons Wondershare Filmora 11 is the best video editor for content creators just starting out Tarun Savvy / Unsplash Wondershare Filmora 11 is the best video editor for content creators just starting out, or those who want to produce Hollywood-level visuals and content without spending years on training. [Find out more](. Xiaomi 12 Pro review: Pure class or one to pass? Pocket-lint What's happened? This flagship handset focuses on the core pillars of design, powerful hardware and capable cameras - without the gimmicks of some competitors. It wraps them up into a package that sits well under a four-figure asking price. Our quick verdict A rollercoaster of emotions: Xiaomi's 2022 flagship is a masterclass in screen quality and design subtlety. Its cameras are great and come without unnecessary gimmicks; however, its battery life is questionable and the MIUI software still has some minor setbacks. There are moments of pure class here, though, especially if you're always near to a charger and can top-up the battery freely. [Read our review.]( In Case You Missed it The [Samsung Galaxy Watch 5]( might have a bigger battery. --- Xiaomi launches two new smartwatches: the [S1 and S1 Active](. --- Amazon's Echo Buds second generation [have almost a third off at the moment]( at $84.99 instead of $119.99. This $35 saving is for the black or white version, with active noise cancellation and five hours of playback. From The Gear Loop Unsplash Child friendly summits: Seven safe yet exciting summits to ignite the fire of adventure in your little ones. [Read more.]( And finally... Dario Campanile / Paramount Pictures 24 retro photos of old technology and simpler times. [Read more](. Have you checked out our weekly podcast that comes out every Friday? It's packed with news, interviews, and top things to get. You can subscribe to the Pocket-lint Podcast via [iTunes]( and [Spotify]( or access it on the web via [Acast](. This week, we talk about everything that happened in the Apple "Peek Performance" event and see whether you should be thinking about getting the iPhone SE, iPad Air, Mac Studio or the Studio Display. [Listen to the new episode today.]( Thanks for reading , if you're enjoying the email, why not get a friend to sign up too, so they can also be in the know? 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