WEEKLY WHEATIES #2532

First on iOS, ChatGPT-5, Streaming, Social Headlines, Staple Games

Aug 09, 2025

In this newsletter:

📝 Post: There’s an App for That… But iOS Gets it First
🗞️ In Case You Missed It: ChatGPT-5 Released
🗞️ In Case You Missed It: Streaming Services Updates
🗞️ In Case You Missed It: Social Media Headlines
😎 Pick of the Week: Staple Games
📦 Featured Product: Computer Monitor Light Bar

📝 There’s an App for That… But iOS Gets it First

Have you ever heard the saying, “There’s an app for that?” Understand the inclination here - it’s probably an iOS app they’re referring to. This was even an Apple commercial back in 2009. So why are there so many apps on iOS? What about Android? Technically speaking, there are close to the same number of apps on both systems, and probably even more on Android if we had exact numbers to compare at the same time.

But the kicker here is that it really isn’t the sheer number of apps available. It’s more about the quality and big names involved. Most larger (or at least more viral) apps are typically on iOS first. And that’s if they ever decide to even make an Android app. So again, why is this the case? If you want a deep dive into this, The WaveForm Podcast did an episode called, Why Are There So Many iOS-Only Apps? One of their conclusions includes the premise that Maintaining an Android app is a lot of work.

On iOS, there are way fewer total devices that developers have to build for. Even with the multiple iPhones and iPads in the past 5 years or so, this total number pales in comparison to the number of possible Android devices that could be using an app. This idea is referred to as Fragmentation. Not only do Android developers have to deal with the many devices available, but also the various flavors of Android itself. It’s an ever-increasing list.

An example on how hardware and software can be affected can include the display. Simply having different screen sizes, refresh rates, and pixel densities all dictate how an app acts and functions. On the other hand, an app that utilizes the GPS, Bluetooth, NFC, or some other chip included in the phone may function differently on versions of Android phones, but will function the exact same way on every iPhone (at least for the most part). And here we’re talking about how the developer may code the app, OR how a user may interface with the app.

In the last few years, Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) have become more common and allow developers to build an app that is typically web-based, but can be ‘installed’ as an app on an iOS or Android device. A downside here is that these apps can’t be listed in the app stores. Stick around and you can see one of these in action when I share something I’ve been working on…

On the monetary side of things, even third-party studies have shown iOS users will spend more on apps. So if you are going to charge for your app, iOS has a leg up there, too. However, developers do have to pay to put an app on the App Store, whereas Android is free. Apple has also been known to remove apps - regardless of how large and popular they are - based on monetary or political pressure. In some overseas countries, VPNs are routinely removed. There’s a huge back-and-forth debacle with Fortnite, and even issues with payment in the EU that are spilling over into other locales.

Regardless, there’s one last - and main - reason apps are typically on iOS first. Market share. At least in the US. A popular site for comparing operating systems, search engines, browsers, and recently, Chatbots, is Statcounter Global Stats. You can change the date range, device, and more. For example, in the last 10 years, you can see how iOS has constantly led the mobile and tablet market share. You can see Google’s reign on search, Windows on Desktop, and Chrome for the browsers.

With ChatGPT leading the charge for chatbots, a question that has come up is how this will play into search engines. Well, recently, Bing surfaces Copilot Search in race to beat Google as AI overviews fill our search results. So much so, Bing is also growing with the help of AI as Google slightly shrinks. Pay attention to the Statcounter site over the next few months or years, as it will be interesting to see how the AI market affects the search engine market.

We started with “There’s an app for that,” but not there may be “an AI for that,” too. Just last week with the updates to ChatGPT (read more below), we see how easy it is to build apps now. So what app are you asking to be built?

🗞️ ICYMI: ChatGPT-5 Released

When I talked about choosing a chatbot in Weekly Wheaties #2526, I shared one that isn’t as popular - Merlin AI. What makes this an interesting chatbot is that it connects to multiple LLMs and picks the right one for the given prompt. With the most recent update to ChatGPT-5, it will not pick the best internal LLM it has access to based on your prompt, giving shorter answers or longer answers based on context. It has received a bit of pushback from users who seem to prefer GPT-4 responses, but time will tell if things become better. There are always learning curves for us as users and the models themselves when updates come. Check out this in-depth post from The Neuron on Everything you need to know (so far…).

Their competitor, Anthropic, also Unveiled a More Powerful AI Model. Apple also has plans to ‘significantly’ grow AI investments.

🗞️ ICYMI: Streaming Services Updates

There were a lot of announcements in the cord-cutting world last week. The largest from the Disney/ESPN empire. First up, ESPN to get NFL Network, rights to RedZone from NFL for equity stake. Tie this into them Paying $1.6 Billion for WWE Rights and their new Standalone Streaming Service and App to Launch Aug. 21 - they are showing how serious they are about sports.

Fox One Launches on August 21 at $19.99 Per Month, including all Fox news, sports, weather, and business channels - along with the local broadcast.

Howdy is an ad-free streaming service by Roku packed with “almost everything you want to watch” for $2.99/month.

Zone-ify offers free TV, movies, and kids’ content.

Regardless, the hope that signing up for multiple services just became a hassle as Streaming Subscriptions May Get Tougher to Cancel. An appeals court has now struck down the FTC ruling that would have offered an easy “Click to Cancel” button on their services.

Here’s your reminder to use Privacy.com and create a new card you can turn off when ready to cancel if the service makes it difficult to do otherwise.

🗞️ ICYMI: Social Media Headlines

😎 POTW: Staple Games

I briefly mentioned this in my pick segment on Weekly Wheaties #2528, but along with Ryan Trahan’s 50-day fundraiser for St. Jude, a late entry to the series joined and ended up becoming the number one donor - Staple Games. They offer simple, clean, fun mini games on Android and iOS. Some are recreations of common favorites: Solitaire, Dominoes, Mahjong, Word Search, Sudoku, Hearts, Spades, and more. However, they also offer unique and interesting games of their own. With my favorite being Match Collector. It’s similar to the Candy Crush-style match games you’ve played before. During the fundraiser, they gave $1 for every game downloaded, and a dime for every state unlocked in Match Collector. While that part is over, you can still go collect your states to relive the journey across the US!

📦 Featured Product

Whether at home or work, if your computer screen is tucked away under a crfedenza of sorts, consider the Computer Monitor Light Bar. This will give you light on and in front of your screen. The brightness can be adjusted, as well as the color temperature. Powered through USB, you could even connect it to the back of your monitor if it has USB ports. However, this should probably not be used in lieu of a webcam light if that is needed.