2026.34: App Snore

Welcome back to This Week in Stratechery! As a reminder, each week, every Friday, we’re sending out this overview of content in the Stratechery bundle; highlighted links are free for everyone. Additionally, you have complete control over what we send to you. If you don’t want to receive This Week in Stratechery emails (there is no podcast), please uncheck the box in your delivery settings. On that note, here were a few of our favorites this week. - Apple Makes Compromises in the EU. Ben has covered the angst surrounding the App Store since the beginning of Stratechery and was focused on Apple’s policies long before it was cool. Now that the company’s finally been forced to compromise in various forums — including a settlement this week with the EU, as well adjustments to its ATT policies in Germany — I thought the most remarkable aspect of Ben’s coverage on Wednesday was how incidental and boring it all seems in the shadow of the possibilities and concerns that exist everywhere else in tech right now. We had a fun conversation about that dynamic at the top of this week’s episode of Sharp Tech before turning to AI cybersecurity, vibe coding epiphanies, and more insight on writing with and without AI. — Andrew Sharp - Truth (Social) and Reconciliation. Sharp China returned from its annual August hiatus this week, and in an episode that’s outside the paywall, we talked about various sources of U.S.-China friction before Xi’s visit to D.C. in September. Before that, however, we began in Korea with more questions than answers as Foreign Minister Wang Yi descended on Seoul in the wake of President Trump’s abrupt Sunday evening decision to reduce joint military exercises between the US and ROK. As for that Trump decision, in this week’s Sharp Text article, I used the Korea news as an opportunity to marvel at the exhausting economy of takes and theories that accompanies every foreign policy decision (and meme) under the current administration. — AS - August Fun with the Clippers and Lakers. During the quietest period of the NBA calendar, there’s actually been quite a bit of news out of L.A. On one hand, we have a terrific mess as Buss family members squabble and Mark Walter’s DOJ-flavored cashflow problems have led to a shocking sale nine months after he initially purchased the team. On the other, Steve Ballmer and the crosstown Clippers might be in the (relative) clear after a 12-month NBA investigation into alleged salary cap circumvention. We discussed all of it on this week’s Greatest of All Talk, including frustrations with Clippers media coverage, what the NBA wants for the Lakers, and a memorable Top 5 segment about our top vacations. — AS Stratechery Articles and Updates - Stripe Acquiring OpenRouter, Aggregating AI?, Flipping the Business Model — Stripe is reportedly acquiring OpenRouter, an implicit bet on a future market of models and the chance at Aggregation. - Nvidia Backs OpenAI Data Center, Anthropic News, Google Buys Spirit Airlines Data — Nvidia makes another deal, this time with a frontier lab; Anthropic’s revenue continues to amaze; and maybe data finally is oil. - Apple Settles With E.U., U.S. App Store Fees, ATT Rules in Germany — Apple’s App Store is finally facing the reality of lower fees, and the EU should be satisfied with its work; it’s ok it’s late. Sharp Text by Andrew Sharp - So What Was Trump Saying to South Korea on Sunday? — A snapshot of Truth Social foreign policy and the take economy it inspires. Dithering with Ben Thompson and Daring Fireball’s John Gruber Asianometry with Jon Yu Sharp China with Andrew Sharp and Sinocism’s Bill Bishop Greatest of All Talk Sharp Tech with Andrew Sharp and Ben Thompson This week’s Sharp Tech video is on the turnover at DeepMind.