News items you should check out: April 10

Since Steve and I can’t cover everything, occasionally we’ll direct your attention to articles from various other sources worth your time.

° AppleInsider reports that Apple has made it easier for developers in seven countries to join the Apple Developer Program, with app makers in those regions now eligible to take advantage of in-app enrollment through the Apple Developer app.

° Apple has decided not to testify in a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing on antitrust issues related to mobile App Stores, and U.S. senators have called Apple’s refusal “unacceptable,” reports Reuters.

° Apple has published its latest Transparency Report, detailing both government and private requests for data, app removals, or account preservations in the first half of 2020.

° Apple supplier Wistron saw revenues grow by a slight 2% on year to NT$177.14 billion (about US$6.23 billion) in the first quarter of 2021, according to DigiTimes.

° Analyst Horace Dediu is forecasting 15% year-on-year growth when the company reports its fiscal second quarter earnings later this month, according to 9to5Mac.

° The ad industry is waiting with bated breath ahead of Apple’s imminent iOS update, which will severely limit tracking and ad targeting across Apple’s mobile devices—and impact the $105 billion U.S. mobile-ad industry, according to AdWeek.

° As noted by Macworld, Apple has confirmed that iMessage/Message is never coming to Android.