Amazon is blaming the threat of malware for its decision to stop releasing new Fire Sticks that support sideloading apps from outside Amazon’s Appstore.

Amazon has released two Fire Stick models that use its proprietary, Linux-based operating system, Vega OS. Previous Fire Sticks ran Fire OS, which is an Android fork based on the Android Open Source Project. One of the biggest differences between Vega OS and Fire OS is that the former doesn’t support sideloading.

It wasn’t surprising when Amazon released its first Vega OS-based Fire Stick. Although many tinkerers sideloaded apps, especially from the Google Play Store, for added functionality, sideloading had also become largely associated with streaming piracy, especially of sporting events.

For years, stakeholders, including UK soccer channel Sky Sports, England’s Premier League professional soccer league, and the world’s largest European soccer streamer, DAZN, blamed Fire Sticks for a lot of streaming piracy. In May 2025, a report from Enders Analysis, a media and telecommunications research firm,  said that Fire Sticks enabled billions of dollars’ worth of streaming piracy.

Amazon no longer making new Fire Sticks with sideloading addressed that concern, particularly as streaming service providers like Amazon display heightened interest in live events to make ad sales.

Additionally, running its own Fire Stick OS gives Amazon greater control over the devices, including ensuring that users can’t circumvent ad placement on Fire Stick software—as well as supporting new features, including Amazon’s subscription and generative AI-based chatbot, Alexa+, and managing app support.

Malware threat

Yet, Aidan Marcuss, VP of Fire TV, advertising, and Appstore, didn’t mention these direct impacts of Vega OS when discussing motivation for the new software. In a recent interview, Or Goren, editor-in-chief of Cord Busters, a UK-based streaming news outlet, noted the negative reaction to Vega being a closed OS. Marcuss responded, per the publication, by saying that Vega OS was Amazon’s opportunity to “innovate and deliver more capabilities, even on the least expensive devices.”

He also said that making a platform around security and privacy was “sort of utmost in my mind.” The statement is somewhat ironic, considering Vega OS blocks custom launchers and other third-party apps that helped users avoid Amazon tracking and ads.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/06/exec-blames-malware-threat-for-amazon-blocking-sideloading-on-new-fire-sticks/

Google is so famous for killing products that there’s a whole virtual graveyard you can explore. Google’s latest shutdown now has a headstone of its own. Effective today, Google has discontinued the Tenor API, which you may not be familiar with by name. You’ve probably used it, though. Tenor is a database of searchable GIFs, which used to serve animated images to sites like X/Twitter, Discord, and more. Now, it only serves Google—maybe the headstone is a bit premature.

Like many Google products, Tenor started as an independent company. Google came along and bought Tenor in 2018, and it continued running it largely unchanged in the intervening years. Tenor was integrated into Google products like Gboard and Google Messages, but the API also gave other platforms a way to help users find, share, and save GIFs. It’s similar to services like Giphy and Klipy.

In January, Google announced it was going to start winding down that API access. It stopped accepting new integrations at that time, and the end date has now arrived: As of June 30, the Tenor API is no more. Google, a company with nearly 200,000 employees and more than $130 billion in 2025 profit, says it decided to stop supporting the image API so it could better focus its resources. The real problem was probably that Tenor was free, and Google didn’t see a way it could make money from a GIF API.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/06/google-kills-tenor-gif-api-forcing-changes-at-x-discord-and-more/

The Motion Picture Association, which includes Netflix, Disney, Amazon Prime Video, and Paramount, and the Streaming Innovation Alliance, which includes Netflix, Disney, Peacock, and Pluto TV, opposed the bill. The groups argued that “many” streaming services were already trying to manage the “loudness of advertisements that come from server-side ad insertion that may be inconsistent with the loudness of the programs,” per a state Assembly analysis (PDF) from September 2025. Server-side ads can have differing volumes due to companies using various encoding pipelines.

Additionally, as the opposing groups previously pointed out, streaming services must contend with a broad range of output devices, including TVs, tablets, and phones.

Reporting on how streaming services might follow the California law, trade publication TV Tech in December reported: “Streaming providers will need to integrate file-based and, in some cases, real-time processing and loudness control into their server-side commercial insertion workflow, just as they currently do for their primary programming.”

The obstacles in managing the loudness of ads are underscored when considering the dissatisfaction that remains among broadcast, cable, and satellite viewers. The FCC said it received “at least” 1,700 complaints about this in 2024, about 825 in 2023, and approximately 750 in 2022.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/06/streaming-services-obnoxiously-loud-ads-become-illegal-on-july-1-in-california/

VK Group, the developers of VKontakte and related services, issued its own statement complaining that “Apple has removed VK apps from the App Store without warning or explanation… VK has never been subject to sanctions nor included on sanctions lists, a fact confirmed by numerous legal opinions from international and US counsel. Apple has long been in possession of these official legal opinions and all relevant information. Nevertheless, Apple unilaterally removed VK apps without prior notice… We consider these actions by Apple regarding Russian users to be unjustified and unacceptable.” (Translation from Russian through Google Translate.)

VK Group also stressed that its Android apps “remain fully functional—including updates, notifications, and other features—and are available via RuStore, Google Play, Huawei AppGallery, Samsung Store, Xiaomi Store, and official product websites.”

This appears to be the new line from the Kremlin, as well. A Russian Telegram channel that reports on Peskov’s comments quoted him yesterday as saying that Apple perhaps could not be “trusted as a commercial service provider” and that the blocks are part of a pattern of “decisions by Apple that are, to put it mildly, bizarre.” (Translation from Russian through Google Translate.)

Still, despite the posturing, Peskov knows the score; there’s little Russia can do about the situation. So instead, he ended with an appeal to users. “There is always an immediate solution,” he said, “switch to Android, switch to our systems, switch to our equivalent service, and continue using the services you love.”

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/06/russian-citizens-told-switch-to-android-after-apple-blocks-key-russian-apps/

Recently, my father called me in a panic.

There were just a few minutes until Netflix would start streaming a live MMA event, and he couldn’t get into my account. For a while, he had accessed Netflix as an add-on member with his own profile through my household’s account. That day, however, he was logged out and couldn’t use my login credentials to watch Netflix. Instead, he saw a prompt asking him to “add an email address to your profile” to continue.

A Reddit user shared this image of the notification that affected profile owners are seeing.

Credit: Scotti_Dev/Reddit/Netflix

After some frantic phone troubleshooting and a couple of password resets, we realized that my father had to create his own login to continue using the extra profile I paid for. Although I was able to get him set up in time (for some disappointing bouts), the situation was confusing and inconvenient.

More users have been encountering this situation as Netflix has gradually required that each profile under a Netflix subscription use a unique email address. When setting things up for my father, I was also asked, but not required, to provide a first and last name.

A Netflix spokesperson confirmed to Ars Technica:

This sign-in update is a permanent change that started rolling out on June 15, 2026.

The change means that every user can now have their own login credentials, which could make it easier for secondary account users to store or change their credentials, log in to a new device, or use two-factor authentication. This setup also enables profile owners to set their language, audio, and display settings without the account holder, Cord Cutters News notes.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/06/netflix-now-requires-every-user-profile-to-be-tied-to-unique-email-address/

Unlike many past Windows updates, Windows 11 required some users to buy new PCs with specific CPU technologies and a Trusted Platform Module (TPM). Microsoft was widely criticized for excluding perfectly serviceable PCs, and that’s turning into a problem in 2026. The AI-driven shortage of storage and memory has made system upgrades vastly more expensive, potentially slowing upgrades. Some have also avoided Windows 11 due to Microsoft’s intense focus on AI features.

The result is that Windows 10 remains stubbornly popular. According to StatCounter data, Windows 10 is still running on about 26 percent of PCs, while Windows 11 sits at 72 percent. That means there are still hundreds of millions of active Windows 10 installs, but those machines will be up to date for at least an additional year.

Credit: Microsoft

To join the ESU program, just look for the enrollment option in the Windows Update menu. Customers in the EU get these updates for free, but in other regions, you have to sign in with a Microsoft account and sync your system settings to be eligible for free updates. Otherwise, it costs $30 (or 1,000 Microsoft Rewards points) to join the program.

Once you’re in, the ESU license works on up to 10 devices, but Microsoft stresses this is for personal use—businesses have to pay per device for Windows 10 updates, but the program is available through 2028. But at this rate, Microsoft might be releasing Windows 10 updates even beyond that timeline.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/06/microsoft-adds-another-year-to-windows-10-extended-update-program/

However, Notion urged users to export drafts and scheduled emails by September 21, since those won’t automatically carry over to an alternative app. Notion noted that users can also save their Notion Mail setups and “export your snippets and auto label instructions to use elsewhere.”

“If you have auto label set up in Notion Mail, you won’t have to rebuild it. Create a Custom Agent in a few clicks, and we’ll bring your existing rules over for you,” the X post explained. “And if you’re already running Notion agents to manage email, they’ll continue running. Your email connection in Notion stays in place.”

Organizations that relied on Notion Mail in a regulated environment might have to transition from Notion Mail earlier.

“If you rely on HIPAA coverage, you should plan to transition off Notion Mail by June 30, 2026,” Notion’s support page reads.

Skiff reportedly served 2 million users, giving rivals like Proton Mail a run for their money before the Notion acquisition. As a Gmail client that didn’t support end-to-end encryption, Notion’s AI-centric approach to email lacked the privacy focus that Skiff carried as an email provider. Still, Notion Mail was built with Skiff’s infrastructure and by former Skiff executives, making its impending demise feel like a sort of swan song for Skiff.

Although Notion is killing its Skiff-influenced email client, it may continue leveraging the human resources and other productivity ideas (around calendars and storage, for instance) gained through its Skiff acquisition as it tries to compete more strongly against rivals like Google Workspace. Notion, however, has strayed from releasing direct follow-up products to Skiff’s portfolio.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/06/notion-killing-skiff-influenced-email-app-since-most-users-use-ai-agents-instead/

The Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Atlas of Surveillance database lists more than 1,800 police departments and sheriff’s offices as having operated drones in the United States. The nonprofit organization also highlighted a notable rise in US law enforcement adopting “drone as first responder” programs in 2025, with tech and drone companies teaming up to sell law enforcement on drones with enhanced surveillance capabilities.

Such companies pitching drone surveillance systems tailored for law enforcement include Flock Safety, Axon and Skydio, and Brinc and Motorola Solutions. For example, Flock’s drones carry the company’s automated license plate readers.

“Flying cameras are bad enough,” wrote Beryl Lipton, a senior investigative researcher at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, in reference to the drone-as-first-responder programs. “They can see and record footage from a special vantage point, capturing video of your home, your backyard, and your movements that should require clear policies around retention, audits, and use, including when the cameras shouldn’t be recording.”

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office listed 18 drones in its inventory for its 2025 annual report, including commercial multirotor drones made by Chinese drone manufacturers DJI and Autel, along with a single fixed-wing drone from the Ohio-based company Event 38 capable of vertical takeoffs and landings.

In September 2025, Sacramento County supervisors unanimously approved the purchase of another 27 drones for the sheriff’s office with a starting price of $5,000 per drone, according to the KCRA 3 TV station. The drone purchases came as part of a larger $1 million package for the sheriff’s office that also included a robot and a Bearcat armored vehicle, along with other military-style equipment.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/06/police-tout-using-drone-to-disarm-incapacitated-person-in-nationwide-first/

Once you put it that way, it’s very easy to see why some workers would say, “Oh yeah, I found a thing that AI is good for and I use it, and that’s fine. I’m even excited about it.” And why other workers would be like, “This is making me miserable.” It’s the difference between the words on the Greek temple, “Know thyself,” and your boss shining 16 cameras in your face and going, “I know you better than you do. And by the way, I think you could work an extra hour a day without breaking a sweat.”

Ars Technica: You make a point of emphasizing that you are not fundamentally anti-AI, despite sharply criticizing the industry. 

Cory Doctorow: I have many comrades who describe themselves as anti-AI, and I’ve had some very spirited, productive, but heated debates with those people because I don’t think AI is exceptional. That means that I don’t think it’s exceptionally evil. The argument that it’s the fruit of the poisonous tree, that it was made by bad people in bad ways, so you shouldn’t use it—I think it’s very foolish. That is not the merit on which we judge technology.

You can talk about whether giving money to these companies is bad. I think it is. You can talk about whether the environmental impact of using foundation models is unsustainable and unsupportable. I think, by and large, it is. But that is not to say that statistical inference using convoluted deep neural networks is bad or—and this is where I get into many arguments—that scraping the web to train a convoluted neural network is bad. I think it’s fine. Scraping is good, actually.

I think it’s very dangerous to say, “The way that we’re going to fix the problems we have with AI is to make it illegal to make a record of what’s on the Internet.” I think that’s catastrophic. That’s how we never again will know what was on CBS News before it turned into Chud News. Everything Nate Silver ever published on his website was just zeroed out by Disney. You can only see it at the Internet Archive because we scrape. It’s just bonkers to say, “It is theft to make transient copies of works, to analyze those transient copies, to publish the results of your analysis.”

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/06/how-to-burst-the-ai-bubble-strike-at-its-roots/

• Google (Google Play)
• Honor (HONOR App Market)
• OPlus (OPPO App Market)
• Samsung (Galaxy Store)
• Transsion (Palm Store)
• vivo (V-Appstore)
• Xiaomi (GetApps)

Developers will also have access to new APIs to make registering as an external developer less arduous. In the coming months, Google will release an Android Developer ID Status API that will check if a package name is already registered with Google. The Android Developer Console API will let you register and manage your app package names without leaving your development environment, too.

The countdown begins

The next step toward verifying apps will come this month as Google deploys a new system service on most certified devices. The package (com.google.android.verifier) will appear on phones and tablets running Android 8 or higher, allowing Google to block the installation of unverified apps. It will remain dormant until verification is activated in your specific region.

Credit: Google

In July, Google plans to roll out the new developer APIs and begin testing for “limited distribution” accounts. This is Google’s solution for hobbyists who want to make their own apps and share them with a small group. Limited accounts won’t require a fee or government ID verification, but you can install these apps on up to 20 devices.

In August, the advanced flow will become available globally ahead of verification becoming mandatory in the first markets. As detailed a few months ago, the advanced flow will allow users to bypass verification, but the process isn’t easy. You’ll have to navigate to a buried menu, confirm you understand the risks multiple times, and wait a whole day before completing the process.

And that brings us to September, when Android devices in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand will begin checking verification status before installing apps. However, things get murky after that. Google will undoubtedly monitor how verification works as millions of users are suddenly limited to verified apps, which could affect how it moves forward. Google says it intends to expand developer verification in 2027, eventually making it a global device policy.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/06/google-shares-updated-timeline-for-rolling-out-android-developer-verification/