The launch of the Delta emulator on iPhones is a big deal in a lot of ways. But for users, it’s also just really cool. Here’s an excellent piece of software that can emulate the NES, SNES, N64, Game Boy, GBA, and Nintendo DS so that you can play classic games on a device that’s always in your pocket. Even better: even though there’s no Delta app for the Apple TV (yet), it’s still really easy to use it to play games on your television.

This is because Delta supports AirPlay so that you can stream video and sound from your phone to another Apple device, like an Apple TV or computer. For Delta, this means that the game itself plays on the bigger screen while your phone becomes a touchscreen controller. Or, if you connect a Bluetooth controller to your iPhone, you can use that to play.

I tested the setup using an iPhone, Apple TV, and the PS5’s DualSense controller, and it was incredibly straightforward. (The longest part of the process was pairing the controller to my phone, which takes a few seconds.) From my experience — which included playing a handful of NES, SNES, and GBA games — it just, well, worked. The games looked great, and there was no noticeable lag for the controls. I also did a quick test on a MacBook Air, and the process was similarly straightforward once I had the correct permissions set.

For most games on these platforms, it’s also just a more natural way to play. In part, that’s because they were originally designed for a TV, but also because a real controller is almost always preferable. Delta’s touchscreen controls do a serviceable job, but they just aren’t the same as real buttons.

And that’s it, really. That one easy-to-miss feature makes Delta a lot more useful than it might seem at first, opening up the possibilities for what you can do with the app, particularly when it comes to multiplayer. And considering how early we are in the life of iOS emulators, it’s exciting how good things are already.

TikTok has launched a new hub to promote Taylor Swift’s new album where you can earn in-app rewards for completing certain tasks, like following Swift’s account on the platform. The update comes just days after Swift’s music returned to TikTok as the app continues to feud with the singer’s record label, Universal Music Group (UMG).

You can access the hub by searching for The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD) and then clicking on the banner that appears at the top of the results. There, TikTok displays a list of “challenges” to complete, which will let you unlock a TTPD profile frame, among other rewards. TikTok will also give users the chance to show up in its “fan spotlight” on the hub by posting a video using the hashtag for the album.

TikTok isn’t the only app that’s rolling out the red carpet for Swift. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg welcomed Swift to Threads after she made her first post promoting the album. Users also discovered that you can unlock a special TTPD badge on Threads by sharing three of Swift’s posts with friends.

Earlier this year, UMG and TikTok failed to renew their licensing agreement, muting hundreds of songs from artists like Olivia Rodrigo, Drake, Billie Eilish, and even Swift. But Swift’s songs returned to TikTok last week, and it’s still not clear how she managed to get around UMG’s purge. Some of us have theories, though:

A report from Variety suggests that Swift may have struck a separate deal with TikTok since she owns her master recordings. She likely didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity to share her new music with her more than 25 million followers on TikTok and everyone else on the app.

The investigation was conducted by the SFPD Arson Task Force, which identified the suspect and developed probable cause for the search warrant. The district attorney’s office has filed charges against the minor while the juvenile probation department is deciding whether to put the suspect in custody before a court hearing.

The February 10th fire was reportedly caused by lit fireworks that were tossed inside the vehicle as it was surrounded by a crowd in Chinatown. Involved suspects were seen smashing windows and other parts with skateboards before leaving a fiery carcass for firefighters to put out.

Obviously, there was huge pent-up demand for Delta. But is this a singular phenomenon or the start of a new more open future for the iPhone? What else might Apple allow in the App Store if it means keeping you in the App Store?

On this episode of The Vergecast, we discuss how Delta got into the App Store and what it might mean for the future of the iPhone. We don’t really talk about all the thorny legal issues around ROMs and emulation because they’re thorny and confusing and don’t even really have a clear answer, but we’ll get back to it soon.

After that, we talk about some big news in big tech: Google’s corporate reorg as it tries to compete in an AI world and the new release of Meta AI that puts a chatbot in practically every social app on your phone. Everybody’s all in on AI… but to what end? Is the AI revolution real, or is it just a fad? No one really knows, but everyone’s spending billions just in case.

If you want to know more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are some links to get you started, first on emulators:

And in the lightning round:

Tesla has issued a recall for effectively every Cybertruck it’s delivered to customers due to a fault that’s causing the vehicle’s accelerator pedal to get stuck.

The fault was caused by an “unapproved change” that introduced “lubricant (soap)” during the assembly of the accelerator pedals, which reduced the retention of the pad, the recall notice states. The truck’s brakes will still function if the accelerator pedal becomes trapped, though this obviously isn’t an ideal workaround.

The recall impacts “all Model Year (‘MY’) 2024 Cybertruck vehicles manufactured from November 13, 2023, to April 4, 2024,” with the fault estimated to be present in 100 percent of the total 3,878 vehicles. This is essentially every Cybertruck delivered to customers since its launch event last year.

A recall seemed to be inevitable after Cybertruck customers were reportedly notified earlier this week that their deliveries were being delayed, with at least one owner being informed by their vehicle dealership that the truck was being recalled over its accelerator pedal. The issue was also highlighted by another Cybertruck owner on TikTok, showing how the fault “held the accelerator down 100 percent, full throttle.”

The timeline reported in the NHTSA filing says that Tesla was first notified of the defective accelerator pedals on March 31st, followed by a second report on April 3rd. The company completed internal assessments to find the cause on April 12th before voluntarily issuing a recall. As of Monday this week, Tesla said it isn’t aware of any “collisions, injuries, or deaths” attributed to the pedal fault.

Tesla is notifying its stores and service centers of the issue “on or around” April 19th and has committed to replacing or reworking the pedals on recalled vehicles at no charge to Cybertruck owners. Any trucks produced from April 17th onward will also be equipped with a new accelerator pedal component and part number.

This is actually the second of Tesla’s many recalls to affect the Cybertruck, but it is the most significant. The company issued a recall for 2 million Tesla vehicles in the US back in February due to the font on the warning lights panel being too small to comply with safety standards, though this was resolved with a software update.

Tesla fans have taken issue with the word “recall” in the past when the company has proven adept at fixing its problems through over-the-air software updates. But they likely will have to admit that, in this case, the terminology applies.

Protecting your online reputation means more now than ever before. Roughly 94% of customers claim that a negative review has convinced them not to purchase from a brand. This indicates that “bad” comments can be problematic for business owners, but there are ways to approach them and turn them around to be more positive.

At some point, you’ll have to deal with negative customer comments online and must learn to respond to criticism effectively. There are countless techniques out there, but here are the ones we’ve used with great success at Keever SEO, taking our cue from some of the most popular brands.

Related: Why You Must Monitor Your Online Reputation Before it Hurts You

1. Creating a separate support handle

As our brand grew, we struggled to complete our daily tasks. Conducting competitor research, mastering content marketing and sending out customer support emails made managing our online reputation challenging. One way we combatted that issue was by creating separate support handles, which is similar to what Nike did.

Nike created a separate Twitter (now X) account (@NikeSupport) dedicated solely to handling customer questions and complaints. We used our company name and it’s working well. The goal is to keep customer questions and comments in a single place. This helps you respond to your loyal fans quickly and efficiently, but it also reduces the risk of negativity in other feeds.

For example, our clients’ Facebook pages often get flooded with questions and sometimes even negativity, as their customers need help to reach out. Once we added a separate X handle for support, everyone knew they could go there for queries and concerns. We recommend that you create a separate support handle for your brand. It doesn’t take much time to complete, and it will make it easier to find and address negative comments.

2. Using humor to respond to criticism

While creating a separate handle for support is beneficial, we still found that some customers were a bit standoffish. Since we were focused on being funny, warm and welcoming, we took inspiration from the Joe Dough Sandwich Shop in NYC and sometimes used humor to deal with criticism.

Humor should only be used for criticisms when the complaint isn’t severe, and it’s only appropriate if it matches your brand’s tone and style. It’s quite easy to trigger a backlash of unhappy customers if you aren’t taking things seriously.

When done well, humor diffuses a challenging and awkward situation. Joe Dough Sandwich Shop used this style to respond to a bad review on Yelp. The intelligent comment created a funny moment and boosted the brand’s profile online. After a Yelp user complained that the meatball sandwich was the worst he’d ever had, the shop wrote about it on the chalkboard menu out front. People were commenting about how funny it was, which created more engagement.

If you plan to use humor to deal with complaints, we recommend doing it only when it makes sense. A comment of one sentence, such as “this sandwich sucked,” might fare well with a funny response, but someone who is raging over many paragraphs will likely need a more respectful and thought-out response.

Related: What is Google Saying? Why a Positive Brand Reputation Online is So Important

3. Showing that you’re competent

Sometimes, a customer is angry so a polite response won’t calm them. This has happened to us before, and it’s disheartening to read those types of comments. However, ignoring them won’t help — it might actually make things worse.

One time, a person claimed our client offered terrible customer service. They went into great detail about their package deal and how they didn’t assist them in making the arrangements they promised on the website. Ultimately, they were mistaken because the client didn’t actually guarantee those things that were listed on the site.

We recommended that the client thank the person for their comment, directly address the issue and explain how they would fix the problem in the future so that no one else would be upset.

Why did that work? Overall, we realized that viewers would see the person’s comment and response and realize they were unreasonable. Though we appeased the original commenter by answering them, we also indicated to others that we were competent enough to handle all types of queries.

4. Avoiding canned responses (even though it’s easier)

Investing in online reputation management is essential for all types of businesses, whether you’re running a startup, a small company or a large corporation. You may think shortcuts like artificial intelligence (AI) are often a great way to respond to people’s questions and needs, though they have their limits.

You’ve likely heard of chatbots, which answer a customer’s question without needing the human touch. It works well for traditional FAQs and other things but is not ideal for complaints.

When we observed clients switch from a human responder to a chatbot for review responses, we discovered that everything sounded canned (because it was). Though this isn’t necessarily bad in some situations, it doesn’t work for complaints because people want to feel heard.

We then recommended that humans write the comments using scripts, but that still didn’t work. Canned responses sound dull and often upset the commenter more. Therefore, it’s always wise to have a real person craft the words. It might not be perfect, but it will offer a personalized touch.

Related: Why Investing in Reputation Management is Crucial for Your Business Strategy

The bottom line

Though many tools are available to help you manage your online reputation, it’s all about how you react to people’s comments. There are bound to be negative reviews periodically, and you must decide how to respond.

Humor and sarcasm can be great comeback options. However, those only work when the issue isn’t severe. Likewise, creating a separate support handle can be helpful because it keeps all the negativity or queries in one spot.

Overall, you want to respond quickly to negative comments, avoid canned responses and explain how you’ll address the issues customers bring up. Doing these things (and implementing any changes) shows that you care about the consumer and their experiences.

Whether you use online reputation management tools, hire a separate staff member to write responses or tackle the job alone, acting quickly and responding professionally is crucial.