The Wordle Phenomenon and Game Cloning

The Verge's Nilay Patel, Alex Cranz, and Russell Brandom discuss the FTC proceeding with an antitrust lawsuit against Meta, the success of Wordle and its app clones, and more RCS drama.

Verge deputy editor Dan Seifert stops by to chat about this week's gadget news and the state of the PC market.

Stories discussed:

• White House to launch COVID test-ordering site ‘by this weekend,’ reports say
• White House hosts tech summit to discuss open-source security after Log4j
• Google calls for new government action to protect open-source software projects
• Judge says the FTC’s Meta monopoly lawsuit can go forward
• Meta’s real antitrust problems are only beginning
• Want the ‘TLDR’ on a site’s terms of service? There’s a bill for that
• Apple says App Store developers have earned more than $260 billion
• The App Store clones are here to profit off Wordle’s success
• The Wordle clones have disappeared from the App Store
• Wordle copycat creator apologizes for ripping off the popular free word game
• The real beauty of Wordle is how its emoji results tell a story
• Alleged Apple App Store scammer AmpMe lowers prices and says it’ll investigate its ‘consultants’
• Google exec says Apple is ‘holding back’ customers who text
• Google says Apple ‘should not benefit from bullying’ created by iMessage lock-in
• It fills me with glee that Canon printers now think Canon’s own toner is fake
• Apple’s $19 polishing cloth is back in stock online
• Ford doesn’t want the F-150 Lightning’s launch to be plagued by scalpers
• Tesla removes 2022 production date from Cybertruck website
• The PC market just had another big year thanks to pandemic demand
• TSMC earmarks record $44 billion for chip manufacturing expansion in 2022 
• The pandemic has blurred the lines between laptop categories
• Sony Xperia 5 III now shipping in the US, almost nine months after initial announcement
• The Nvidia Shield is getting Android 11 and other upgrades
• Sony says it’s still making new PS4s, but most stores aren’t selling them
• Google’s Android 12 update has been the rockiest one in years
• Ford doesn’t want the F-150 Lightning’s launch to be plagued by scalpers
• Wear OS will work better for lefties... eventually
• Tesla removes 2022 production date from Cybertruck website
• GM is creating an online used car marketplace
• Buy Nothing exploded on Facebook — now it wants a platform on its own

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