Apple Daily Report: Apple’s Messages could be exempt from proposed California tax on text messages (and more news)

Since Steve and I can’t cover everything, at the end of each week day, we’ll offer this wrap-up of news items you should check out. 

According to recent public law filings, California’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is considering a plan that would bill cell phone users a monthly fee for any text message services they use. However, engadget notes that apps such as Apple’s Message and WhatsApp would be exempt from the charge since their texts are sent over the Internet rather than as text messages. 

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) will review a ruling that a ban on imports of some iPhones into the U.S. was not in the public interest, even if Apple infringed a Qualcomm patent, reports Reuters. However, Qualcomm is trying to get the iPhone Xr, Xs, and Xs Max banned in China after obtaining an injunction against both the import and sale of earlier iPhones in the country.

DuckDuckGo — a privacy-focused search engine company that competes with Google Search— released a study last week that claims Google is inadvertently introducing bias into its results, per Business Insider.

Reuters reports that the Washington-based Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) — a consumer advocacy group backed by several American technology companies, including Apple — has unveiled a U.S. privacy bill that strictly limits collection of biometric and location information and calls for punishment by fines, as Congress weighs nationwide regulation to supersede new California rules.

Apple has announced the addition of app analytics for Mac App Store apps in App Store Connect. Developers can find out how many times an app was seen on the Mac App Store, how many times a product page was viewed, and how many new customers downloaded an app. They can also see sales numbers for in-app purchases, as well as for paying users, and more.