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               LittleBITS: Apple Pay Date Quirk, Apple Music Sing

   Adam Engst

   This week, I have two quick things to share that don't warrant an
   article: an explanation of why TidBITS members using Apple Pay may see
   incorrect credit card expiration dates and the news of Apple Music
   Sing, which fills me with dread.

Apple Pay Transactions Get Weird Expiration Dates

   Our support wizard, Lauri Reinhardt, recently solved a minor mystery
   that had confused a few [1]TidBITS members. When people who had used
   Apple Pay for their TidBITS memberships received email from our system
   about a failed renewal payment, the credit card expiration date listed
   was incorrect. Since one of the most likely reasons for a failed
   payment is an expired card, the incorrect date caused some
   consternation.

   Lauri discovered that Apple Pay's tokenization process prevents Stripe,
   our payment processor, from knowing the expiration date for the actual
   card. Instead, Stripe'and the Paid Memberships Pro plug-in that we use
   to manage TidBITS accounts'displays a seemingly random expiration date
   from the tokenized card. The problem is purely cosmetic and doesn't
   block transactions in any way.

   The practical upshot is that if you used Apple Pay to pay for your
   TidBITS membership and you see an incorrect expiration date associated
   with your card data in your account information, don't worry about it
   unless you also get a notification that a transaction failed. In that
   case, try a different card or contact Lauri at [2][email protected] so
   she can help you figure out what to do. My apologies for any confusion,
   and thanks for supporting TidBITS!

   This date quirk is the first downside of using Apple Pay instead of a
   straight credit card transaction that I've seen. In all other ways,
   Apple Pay's tokenization of credit card data is a good thing because it
   significantly increases security.

Apple Music Adds Karaoke

   As an entirely non-musical person, little fills me with more dread than
   karaoke. The occasional group rendition of 'Happy Birthday' is as close
   as I get to singing. Happily, I've never found myself in a situation
   where karaoke was happening, much less where I would be expected to
   perform. I hope to keep it that way.

   You can thus imagine my enthusiasm level for [3]Apple Music Sing, a
   forthcoming feature that enables Apple Music subscribers to sing along
   with 'tens of millions of the world's most singable songs.' I'm sure
   lots of people will like Apple Music Sing when it becomes available
   later this month, and if you're among them, I hope you have fun. I'll
   continue to leave the singing to the professionals.

References

   1. https://tidbits.com/members/
   2. file://localhost/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#691a1c1919061b1d291d000d0b001d1a470a0604
   3. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2022/12/apple-introduces-apple-music-sing/

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