The Vergecast: Ad-Free Edition

Part of The Verge's Interface Live series, silicon valley editor Casey Newton talks with Bloomberg reporter Sarah Frier about her new book No Filter, which delves into the history of Instagram and how the app became what it is today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Stories discussed this week: The Interface Live on Zoom: the hidden history of Instagram, with Bloomberg reporter Sarah Frier In a self-isolated world, developers are learning to make games from home How GM and Ford switched out pickup trucks for breathing machines The search for COVID-19 treatments shows how messy science can be How Medium became the best and worst place for coronavirus news Unemployment checks are being held up by a coding language almost nobody knows How you’ll use Apple and Google’s coronavirus tracking tool Apple’s second-gen iPhone SE is here: all the news and details Even ‘small’ phones are big now The iPhone SE 2’s camera setup is going to lean on Apple’s software The new Moto G Stylus and G Power are surprisingly adept cameraphones Samsung’s Galaxy S10 Lite will launch in the US on April 17th for $650 Google’s midrange Pixel 4A could launch soon, and there may not be an XL version Apple is tweaking how MacBooks charge to extend battery lifespan Apple’s new Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro goes up for preorder, ships next week Apple’s over-ear headphones reportedly have swappable ear pads and headbands Here are five things with four wheels that cost less than the Mac Pro’s $700 wheel kit Go read this analysis of what the iPad Pro’s LIDAR sensor is capable of OnePlus 8 Pro review: big league OnePlus 8 review: familiar formula OnePlus announces the Bullets Wireless Z headphones The $579 RedMagic 5G is the first phone with a 144Hz display Verizon is buying BlueJeans, one of Zoom’s videoconferencing rivals Google is reportedly building its own processor for Pixels and Chromebooks Foxconn’s buildings in Wisconsin are still empty, one year later Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nilay Patel talks with The Verge's Adi Robertson, Casey Newton, and Nicole Wetsman about Apple and Google announcing a system for tracking the spread of the new coronavirus, allowing users to share data through Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) transmissions and approved apps from health organizations.Links: Apple and Google are building a coronavirus tracking system into iOS and Android What is contact tracing? Why Bluetooth apps are bad at discovering new cases of COVID-19 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Stories discussed this week: Webcams have become impossible to find, and prices are skyrocketing Why the 5G coronavirus conspiracy theories don’t make sense UK mobile carriers politely ask people to stop burning 5G towers No one’s getting new emoji in 2021 because of the pandemic Foxconn will produce ventilators at its controversial Wisconsin plant Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 review: AMD has rewritten the rules Nvidia’s RTX Super GPUs for laptops have arrived — here’s where you’ll see them first Asus’ ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 is a gaming laptop with two screens MSI announces new laptops with Comet Lake H and new Nvidia GPUs Gigabyte’s latest gaming laptop supports Intel’s most powerful 10th Gen Core i9 processor yet Razer’s new Blade 15 has powerful specs and an improved keyboard Samsung Galaxy Chromebook review Asus Chromebook Flip C436 review Microsoft reportedly delays Surface Neo beyond 2020 Can Meg Whitman outwit a pandemic with Quibi? Quibi app review: shifting landscape Quibi’s shows are fun, familiar, and a little forgettable It’s impossible to screenshot a Quibi show, and that’s detrimental to its success Disney Plus surpasses 50 million subscribers Sony reveals new DualSense controller for the PlayStation 5 Microsoft’s Xbox Game Bar is getting custom widgets and its own store on Windows The OnePlus 8 Pro will have super fast, 30W wireless charging Google’s midrange Pixel 4A could launch soon, and there may not be an XL version  Google’s Hangouts Meet is now just Google Meet Google extends free access to advanced teleconferencing features to September 30th Google trademarks 'Google Meet' and 'Google Chat,' support ... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel talks to Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott about his new book Reprogramming the American Dream: From Rural America to Silicon Valley―Making AI Serve Us All. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nilay, Dieter, and Paul talk to Tom Warren about Zoom's privacy and security concerns.The crew also looks back at the history of Sprint after it finally merged with T-Mobile.Paul's weekly segment "If I were a rich man" updates the keyboard-in-the-front club.The show ends with some chat about Apple buying the weather app Dark Sky and allowing in-app rentals on their mobile devices.Stories discussed in this episode: After walkouts, Amazon pledges temperature checks and masks in all warehouses Jeff Bezos’ space company is pressuring employees to launch a tourist rocket during the pandemic Zoom is leaking some user information because of an issue with how the app groups contacts Zoom faces a privacy and security backlash as it surges in ... Zoom announces 90-day feature freeze to fix privacy and ... Zoom isn't actually end-to-end encrypted  Zoom quickly fixes 'malware-like' macOS installer with new ... Microsoft aims to win back consumers with new Microsoft 365 subscriptions T-Mobile completes merger with Sprint, John Legere steps down as CEO Sprint is dead. Long live Sprint What’s next for Sprint customers now that the T-Mobile merger has gone through? Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 review: AMD has rewritten the rules Apple now lets some video streaming apps bypass the App Store cut Amazon Prime Video now allows in-app rentals and purchases on the iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV Apple acquires popular weather app Dark Sky and will shut down the Android version Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel talks to founder and CEO of The Future Today Institute Amy Webb.Amy is also a professor at NYU's Stern School of Business and recently came out with a book called The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity. During the coronavirus pandemic, Amy and Nilay discuss whether we could have predicted this outbreak, how it can change trends in the future, and how it may even accelerate trends like AI and cloud-based robotics.They also talk about The Future Today Institute's 2020 Tech Trend Report that was released this month — which is a quantitative look at the big trends that may dominate the future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Stories discussed this week: Amazon warehouse workers are outraged after a coworker tested positive for COVID-19 and they weren’t notified ‘We’re all going to get sick eventually’: Amazon workers are struggling to provide for a nation in quarantine It’s time for a regular Amazon daily coronavirus briefing Twitter locks account encouraging coronavirus ‘chickenpox parties’ Zoom is 2020’s hottest yoga studio Apple says customers must wait to pick up repairs locked inside its retail stores Best Buy moves to curbside pickup only as it sees surge in orders for home office equipment Disney Plus and Facebook are also reducing streaming quality in Europe Amazon and Apple are reducing streaming quality to lessen broadband strain in Europe YouTube joins Netflix in reducing video quality in Europe YouTube creators figure out how to film during a pandemic Fashion influencers are rethinking their curated aesthetics because they can’t leave their houses Fox will broadcast NASCAR’s substitute sim racing ‘season’ on television Pro drivers are competing with gamers after F1 and NASCAR canceled races How to watch movies with friends online Everything you need to know about the coronavirus  Subscribe to Home Screen: a newsletter to brighten your inbox Apple MacBook Air (2020) review: the best Mac for most people Apple iPad Pro review 2020: small spec bump, big camera bump Never buy hardware today based on a promise of software tomorrow The new MacBook Air and iPad Pro are already discounted on Amazon Huawei hopes the P40 Pro can lure you away from Google  Living a Google-free life with a Huawei phone Dell now lets you control iPhones from its PCs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel talks to Impossible Foods CEO Patrick Brown about Impossible's mission to replace animal-derived meat worldwide and what that would mean for our climate and culture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nilay, Dieter, and Paul discuss the new iPad Pro and Macbook Air that Apple announced this week, the confusion around Google's coronavirus testing website, and the specs revealed for the PS5.Stories discussed this week: Comcast modestly raises slow internet speeds for low-income users because of coronavirus AT&T is suspending broadband data caps for home internet customers due to coronavirus AT&T, Comcast, Verizon and others agree not to overcharge customers during coronavirus Verily’s coronavirus screening website launches with very limited access Trump’s Google testing announcement mixed up several real projects The White House still can’t explain what’s going on with the coronavirus screening website Coronavirus testing shouldn’t be this complicated Apple announces online-only WWDC 2020 due to coronavirus spread Apple announces new iPad Pro with trackpad support and a wild keyboard cover iPadOS 13.4 adds full mouse and trackpad support The iPad Pro is ready to supplant the Mac just as the MacBook Air is great again Logitech’s iPad keyboard case with trackpad costs half as much as Apple’s The new iPad Pro’s LIDAR sensor is an AR hardware solution in search of software The new iPad Pro’s LIDAR scanner can turn a living room into an AR game of Hot Lava You can try the iPad’s new trackpad and mouse support right now with Apple’s public beta Apple announces new MacBook Air with improved keyboard, faster performance, and more storage Moog and Korg are offering synth apps for free while we’re all stuck at home PS5 vs. Xbox Series X: a complicated battle of SSD and GPU speeds Sony says the PlayStation 5’s SSD will completely change next-gen level design The Xbox Series X specs look impressive, but that’s not enough Here’s how Xbox Series X removable storage will work Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices