subscription

Renfe wants you to use a folding bike when you ride the train. For this, it has announced a subscription service from 41 euros

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Getting on a train with a scooter or one folding bike It is a situation that we see more and more in our country, especially in more crowded cities and in cases where the situation requires this convenient type of mobility. For this reason, Renfe wanted to take advantage launching a service in collaboration with the bicycle company Brompton, to promote the combo of using a bike and train on daily Cercanías journeys. The idea is to rent a folding bicycle for a monthly subscription and combine it with the train to cover the stretch between home, the station and the final destination, without the need for a car. The problem they want to solve. Using a bicycle to get to the train has the main drawback of needing secure parking for the bike, and of course many prefer to avoid what the stations offer due to the risk of theft. On the other hand, during rush hour, getting a conventional bike onto a crowded car is quite stressful, and anyone who has ever done it knows it perfectly well. A folding bicycle avoids this type of situation, and Renfe wants to take advantage of it. What is included and how much does it cost?. The subscription starts at 41 euros per month with a 12-month commitment, or 49 euros per month if you opt for six months. The package includes a Brompton C Line four-speed (intermediate handlebar), theft and damage insurance, a full annual service and home delivery within three to five working days. At the end of the period, the user can renew, return the bicycle or buy a new one at a discount. The brand also offers a bonus of 200 euros for the purchase of a new bike to those who decide to keep the model, according to they count from El Periódico. why now. Spain is the third market in which Brompton launches this subscription service, after Germany (where it premiered last year) and France, where it launched this same year. The landing in Spain makes sense: the Renfe Cercanías network is one of the densest in southern Europe and last kilometer routes without a practical solution are a widespread problem in large cities. The argument of sustainability. Renfe frame the initiative in its environmental strategy. The company claims to have reduced its emissions to 3.79 grams of CO₂ per transport unit in 2024, a figure that, according to the Spanish Climate Change Office, is up to 35 times lower than that of private cars. Replacing short car trips with bike plus train is, in this context, the natural complement to that narrative. For the end user it is a very convenient option, although in a context of fatigue due to the flood of subscriptions that many of us pay for, it can make a certain dent in the proposal. What remains to be seen. The proposal makes sense on paper, but there are some factors that must be resolved, including the number of bike racks at the stations, the reliability of the service and whether the price is attractive for those looking for an alternative and convenient type of mobility. Buying a Brompton usually means spending more than 1,000 euros, so we will have to see if the economic argument convinces enough travelers for this business model to be successful. Cover image | Renfe In Xataka | Renfe has launched a real-time map to know where your surroundings are in 2025. And it works quite well

Brands are eager to turn our cars into a subscription service. Honda has reminded us again

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Buying a car today can be a whole box of surprises. Sometimes for the better, and sometimes, as recently happened to a Honda Passport owner, for the worse. And just as has shared user on Reddit, the function to open your garage that previously came as standard, has become an option included in a subscription package offered by the firm. The story has some nuances that are worth mentioning, but the reality is that this example has become another reflection of something that has been happening for years in the automobile industry: manufacturers are determined to turn your vehicles into recurring revenue platformsand software is your main tool to achieve this. From opening the garage with a little button in the car, to doing it from an app The Honda Passport in question has removed the rearview mirror with integrated Homelink, the system that allows the car to be synchronized with the garage receiver via radio. In your place now offers the function as standard through the MyQ applicationintegrated into HondaLink. For it to work, the user needs an internet connection in the car, Apple CarPlay or Android Autoand you must also install a MyQ receiver connected to the home Wi-Fi at home. The result is a system that provides more technical complexity to do something that was previously solved with a small radio control attached to the visor. Sling confirmed According to CarBuzz, customers receive a free 30-day trial period, after which they must contract a three- or five-year subscription. If they don’t, the feature is still accessible through the standalone MyQ app, and Honda also sells a rearview mirror with Homelink as an additional accessory for around $170. That is to say: What used to come as standard now has to be paid separately. The main advantage of the new system (being able to check if you have left the garage open from anywhere with a connection) makes some practical sense. But the price of the subscription, between $129 and $179 for three or five years, plus the possible connectivity costs of the vehicle itself, turns something so simple into a payment chain that is difficult to justify. BMW and heated seats: the case that started it all To understand where we are today with the issue of subscription services in vehicles, it is worth remembering the most talked about episode in recent years. In 2022, BMW began to offer in some markets (South Korea, the United Kingdom, Germany, among others) the possibility of activate seat heating through a monthly subscription about 18 dollars a month. The problem here is that the hardware is already installed in the car from the factory, and it is the owners who had to pay a monthly subscription to unlock this feature. Both the press and the users attacked them so much that they had to back away. In September 2023, BMW Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Pieter Nota will confirmed to Autocar the end of that practice: “What we no longer do, and it is a well-known example, is to offer seat heating in this way. Either it comes from the factory or it doesn’t.” But BMW did not abandon the subscription model, but rather reoriented it. The brand confirmed that it would continue to expand the services and functions it offers through subscriptions, but that it will stop charging for hardware functions already installed in the vehicle. After the move, the firm continued with its plans to add subscription services, but this time only in its software, such as driving or parking assistance systems. Through your ConnectedDrive platformoffers functions such as adaptive suspension, high beam assistant, adaptive cruise control or even welcome animations with the lights, through subscription. Mercedes: up to 80 horses per subscription BMW’s example ended up spreading to many other firms. Mercedes-Benz launched its “Acceleration Increase On-Demand” function in 2023 for the electric EQE and EQS models: for $60 per month or $600 per year in the case of the EQE, or $90 per month and $900 per year in the EQS, owners could unlock between 60 and 80 additional horsepower and cut the acceleration time from 0 to 100 km/h by up to one second. They also added a single payment option for life, which is around 2,000 or 3,000 euros, depending on the model. Mercedes’ logic with which it tried to distance itself from BMW’s case was that standard hardwired functions, such as seat heating, would not be offered as “digital extras”, leaving subscriptions for software upgrades. However, the principle is the same– The car has the necessary hardware, but the feature is blocked until the user pays. Mercedes-Benz aimed reach 2,000 million euros of revenue from software subscriptions in 2025, with plans to reach between 7,000 and 9,000 million euros before 2030. This growth would be driven above all by its own operating system (MB.OS) and its autonomous driving system. If we think about it coldly, electric cars usually have lower maintenance costs than combustion cars, which reduces the income of dealers and the brands themselves. Software subscriptions are presented as a way to compensate for that loss. Tesla, GM and Ford: the model that already works Tesla has been the benchmark for this model for years, and in its case the discussion has important nuances. Your system Full Self-Driving Supervised (supervised autonomous driving) could be purchased for about $8,000 as a one-time payment or as a monthly subscription. And we tell it in the past tense because earlier this year, Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla would offer this mode only as a subscription service and not as a one-time payment. The good news is that those who had paid to get the lifetime feature will continue to have this feature. The subscription option costs about $99 per month. Perhaps the main difference here with BMW or Mercedes is that Tesla updates its software continuously with new capacities, which gives greater meaning to the recurring fee model. In the case of General Motors, … Read more

Your subscription now includes 99,999 Freepik credits to use its artificial intelligence

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Xataka Xtra keeps improving. If just a few days ago we announced an exclusive discount in the Samsung online store, today we are pleased to announce that, from now on, all members of the Xtra community can get 99,999 free credits to use Pikasothe suite of generative artificial intelligence tools from the Spanish company Freepik. In this way, anyone can generate a (good) handful of images, audio or videos using models such as Nano Banana 2, Kling 3.0, Seedance 2.0, ElevenLabs Music or Google Lyria, among others. This is an exclusive advantage for Xataka Xtra members. If you are not yet part of the community, You can subscribe from only two euros per month. Freepik credits galore for Xtra members From this very moment, all Xataka Xtra members will find in their member area a unique and exclusive code for each useras well as instructions to redeem it in your Freepik accounts. The code gives access to 99,999 Pikaso credits that will last until completely consumed or for three months from when the code is redeemed. If the code is not used, it will expire within one year. It should be noted that it is not necessary to be a Freepik subscriber, just create an account and redeem the code. Here you can find all video models, all image, all audio and all 3das well as the amount of credits consumed by each generation. For example, Nano Banano Pro 2 4K consumes 150 credits per image, so your code could generate 666 images. Seedance 2.0, for its part, consumes 5,500 credits for every 15 seconds of 720p video. That is, there is more than enough credits to try and experiment as much as you want. In addition to these models, Magnific, the AI ​​rescaler, is also available. Join Xataka Xtra and save The Xataka Xtra subscription includes this and many other exclusive benefits, from a Discord server for subscribers to a direct line with editors through El Consultorio, a monthly meeting with the house’s editors and, as is obvious, an ever-growing list of discounts and advantages on digital services. Can join Xataka Xtra from only two euros per month and take advantage not only of these Freepik credits, but of all those already available and those yet to come: Image | Xataka In Xataka | 48 hours at Upscale Conf: what happens to human creativity when thousands of human creatives fall in love with AI

Generation Z has found the remedy to streaming subscription fatigue: buying DVDs again

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Sales of DVD, Blu-ray and 4K UHD stopped their decline in 2025. They only fell 9% compared to declines of more than 20% in the previous two years. What is the reason for this slowdown? To an unexpected factor, an unforeseen audience: young people from Generation Z who are filling video stores, promoting labels boutique like Criterion and Arrow and turning the physical format into a gesture of resistance against the massification of streaming. Plummet. For more than a decade, the physical format market in home video followed a downward trajectory that seemed irreversible. Between 2019 and 2023 it was reduced by 40% in the United States alone, and the disappearance of chains such as blockbuster it reinforced the feeling that the album was an exhausted medium. In 2024, DVD and Blu-ray sales were below a billion dollars for the first time. Gasping. However, in 2025 a different phenomenon has been detected: the physical disk market generated 870 million dollarsthat is, it only decreased by 9.3% compared to the previous year. What’s more: in the 4K UHD segment (which allows high-quality viewing at home), US consumer spending grew 12% year-on-year. All this in an extremely unfavorable context: with the unstoppable growth of streaming (19.8% in 2025), the physical format represents only 1.4% of total home entertainment. Fed up with streaming. The overdose of supply in streaming is ultimately causing a tiredness effect. According to recent studies47% of American consumers say they pay too much for their insurance services streamingand 41% consider that the available content does not justify the price. The average number of subscriptions per household has been four for a couple of years, an amount that could be at its critical point. DVD solution. Added to this saturation is a problem that film fans know well: the platforms are unreliable and the catalogs change without prior notice. Movies and series disappear for reasons ranging from the completion of exploitation contracts to tax reasons. In a ‘Los Angeles Times’ piece that has investigated this interest Of the youngest to recover physical formats, some young people under thirty spoke about how they became interested in cinema during the pandemic, describing DVD collecting as an act of rebellion against the fragmentation of streaming. Blockbuster, meeting point. That same article talks about renovated versions of old video stores as meeting points for these new collectors. Of course, it is something that mainly concerns the United States, where such specific types of businesses make sense: Vidiots, in Los Angeles, also functions as a movie theater, and is registering its highest revenue peaks since its opening, with an average of 170 daily rentals. Also from there is Cinefile, which has 500 paying members. Visiting the video store functions as a social activity that streaming cannot offer and the community dimension is key to understanding why the phenomenon exceeds pure nostalgia. And you don’t have to go to such specialized stores: Barnes & Noble, one of the few large chains in the country that maintains a space dedicated to the physical format after the withdrawal of Best Buy and Target, speaks of a double-digit percentage growth during the last year. And they point out that the demographic profile of their buyers is increasingly younger. Stamps boutique. The situation experienced by domestic editions is completely unprecedented in the history of the medium: while the major studios reduce their commitment to the physical format, independent labels are experiencing a moment of expansion. Criterion Collection speaks of “significant year-over-year increases” in sales. The cult film specialist Vinegar Syndrome also experiments similar trends. Of course, sales are incomparably lower than the good times of the physical format, but we are not talking about residual phenomena either. In Spain alone, for example, there are half a dozen labels specialized in reissues of films that cannot be found in streaming (El 79, Cameo, Gabita Barbieri, Trashorama…) that survive crises and recessions alluding to a loyal audience and a cinema that cannot be seen any other way. The inevitable comparison. It is inevitable to think of an analogy with the vinyl recoverythe cassette and the VHS that the previous generations, Millennials and Gen-Xers, have carried out. This has been going on since the mid-2010s, in a mix of nostalgia, vindication of the physical and endless discussions about audio and video qualities. Two decades latervinyl is facing its eighteenth consecutive year of growth, with $1.4 billion in sales (the highest figure since 1984) and 44 million units in stores, surpassing the CD for the third consecutive year. The key difference is that vinyl has an industrial infrastructure that supports it: record companies that prioritize the format, active manufacturers and a distribution chain. The physical video, on the other hand, loses player manufacturers and the big studios prioritize streaming about the disc editions. Video game consoles, eternal support of the format, already have institutionalized versions of their hardware without disc readers. At the moment, the recovery of DVD and Blu-Ray is an isolated phenomenon. But those who we keep listening to cassettes We know better than to look over our shoulders at a format that seems dead. Header | Photo of Lance Anderson in Unsplash In Xataka | Despite streaming, I still buy Blu-Rays and DVDs. But the reason has nothing to do with image quality.

Your subscription to Xataka Xtra includes an exclusive badge for your profile: this is what it will look like

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Xataka Xtra It is loaded with advantages. For only two euros a month you have access to exclusive newsletters, raffles and discounts, to the Discord server, to our editors to resolve your queries and, of course, to show that you, xatakera, xatakero, support Xataka and are part of the Xtra community. That’s why today we present to you another of the benefits included in your subscription: an exclusive badge for your profile. This badge will appear on your profile and in the commentsso that everyone can see that you are part of the Xtra community. It should be noted that it does not mean that your comments will be seen first, that they will not be moderated or that you will earn more karma, but it is a gesture that we want to have from Xataka to value your support in a more visual way. We remind you that Xataka Xtra It has a promotional price of two euros per month or 15 euros per year. In addition, for only 30 euros per year you can unlock advertising-free browsing. If you haven’t done so yet, You can subscribe now from this link. In Xataka | Subscribe now to Xataka Xtra

The subscription to avoid ads is now official in Europe

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The rumors had been circulating for a long time.but now we are no longer talking about speculation. Meta has confirmed that the ads will come to WhatsApp. The company thus introduces advertising in the most used messaging application in the world and, at the same time, opens the door to an alternative for those who prefer to avoid them: a subscription that will allow you to eliminate advertising from your mobile phone itself with a few touches. The change is not minor. In fact, everything indicates that we are facing one of the most important turns in the history of the platform. WhatsApp with advertising: what changes. With official confirmation on the table, the immediate question is where these ads will appear and to what extent they will alter the user experience. As explained by the company itself on its help pageadvertising will not invade private conversations. Ads will be displayed only in states and channels, while “personal messages and calls” will remain ad-free. In other words, the most intimate spaces of the application will remain intact, while advertising will be concentrated in the areas closest to public or shared content. How to remove WhatsApp ads. With the arrival of ads, another question inevitably arises: how to prevent them from appearing. If we do not want promotional messages to sneak between the states or the channels we follow, the only way will be to pay. Meta has chosen to introduce a subscription that will allow you to recover an ad-free experience within the application. It is a strategy that fits with the movement that the company has already started on Facebook and Instagramwhere it offers ad-free versions in exchange for a monthly payment. WhatsApp subscription. This is where the option to remove ads comes into the picture. According to the company, this subscription will be available in the European region, although not all users will be able to activate it automatically from the first moment. In order to subscribe, it is necessary to meet two conditions: have the WhatsApp account linked to the Meta account center and be over 18 years of age. The process to activate the subscription is done from the application itself and follows these steps: In WhatsApp, tap Settings > Account. Go to Ad Preferences for States and Channels and select No Ads. In the Account Center, tap Ads Preferences > Subscribe for ad-free use. Press Continue with subscription. Review the subscription and tap Continue > Continue Payment. Tap Pay Now to complete your payment through the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Tap Close after seeing the confirmation screen. How much does a WhatsApp subscription cost?. The price is, without a doubt, one of the most relevant aspects, and for now it remains surrounded by some uncertainty. In our tests from Spain, the option to activate the subscription is not yet available, something that could be explained by a gradual rollout that Meta would be carrying out in phases. With a WhatsApp account linked to the account center, it is currently only possible to activate the subscription without ads on Facebook and Instagram, with a price of 5.99 euros per month for one account and 4 euros per month for each additional account if the management is done from a web browser. The specialized site WABetaInfo, a regular source to follow WhatsApp news, points out that the payments of this subscription will be monthly. As explained, the price may vary depending on the platform and the user’s location. Those who subscribe from Facebook.com or Instagram.com usually pay around 3 euros per month to remove ads, while doing so through the Apple App Store or Google Play Store would raise the figure to about 4 euros per month. It is advisable to take this information with caution. For our part, we have written to Meta to try to confirm the details and clarify what the final price will be. What happens to the privacy of chats. The arrival of advertising also raises another obvious question: what happens to the privacy of conversations. At this point, WhatsApp insists that the operation of the platform does not change. Messages are still protected by end-to-end encryption, meaning no one outside the conversation can access their content. As Meta explains, ad targeting will be based on limited signals, such as language, country, or user interaction with other ads within the platform. The conversations, at least on paper, will remain private. Images | Goal In Xataka | We already know how ads will work on ChatGPT. We have bad and not so bad news

How to find free, open source or one-time payment alternatives to subscription services with this website

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Do you want to reduce the number of subscriptions you pay? Let’s tell you how to find the best alternatives to programs and applications that require a subscription. Among the alternatives you will have open source services, free or that only require a single payment. We are going to do this with one of those pages that should be saved in favorites. It’s about the web nosubscription.organd we are going to teach you how to use it to find your alternatives. The best alternatives to subscription services NoSubscription is a project with a manifesto in which they believe that users should own their toolsnot renting them with monthly subscriptions. For this reason, those responsible for the website say their mission is to find, verify and promote the best software and services that you buy with a single payment, free and open source. All you have to do is enter nosubscription.organd at the top use your search engine. In it, you can write the name of the subscription tool you want to replacebut also the category of the tool or application. When you type a name, the results will appear with the best alternatives. Notice that below the name it appears which services are alternatives for, because sometimes it can appear out of order. Then, The type of price will appear in green that is, as if it is free or even the total price if it is a single payment. And if you write a category, such as Socialyou will see that alternatives appear and in each one for which service or social network they are a substitute. you will also see What operating systems do you have apps for?with the logos of each one or a globe if used by browser. You can also look for alternatives to other applications popular ones, like Chrome, social networks, operating systems, whatever. When you click on one of the services you will go to its file. In it you will have a description and a list with its key features. On the right you will see its category, the type of application or service it is, where it is available and a button to go to the official website in case you want to find out more. In Xataka Basics | European alternatives to Gmail and Outlook: the best email providers made in Europe

The change of Google’s search engine with AI was a mystery about its monetization. Finally it will be another subscription

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For months, the technology industry has been closely watching how Google resolves its particular dilemma: how to integrate artificial intelligence into its search engine without destroying the advertising business that supports its empire. The doubts are being cleared up little by little, and everything indicates that the company has already solved it: through AI Plusa subscription with a cost of 7.99 euros per month. Dilemma. The results of traditional search with blue links They generate billions in advertising, being one of the company’s most lucrative businesses and also one of the reasons why it is where it is. On the other side we have his foray into the AI ​​careera business in which they are burning money on infrastructure in the hope that it will be profitable in the long term. This last business also clashes with the traditional advertising system, with which Google also takes great advantage. Embracing the new potentially means burying what feeds you. The company is looking for a solution to this dilemma with Google AI Plus. What does the 8 euro subscription include? AI Plus has recently reached 35 new countriesamong them Spain. For €7.99 per month, users get enhanced access to Gemini 3 Prothe image generator Nano Banana Prothe research tool Deep Research200 GB of cloud storage and the possibility of using Gemini directly in Gmail, Docs, and other Google apps. Also includes 200 monthly credits for flow and Whiskthe company’s AI video creation platforms. Duel with OpenAI. The price is tight and even lower than the offer. ChatGPT Gowhich is found in Spain at a price of 9.99 euros per month. Both companies are fighting to attract users who want more than the free version, an opportunity to obtain more financing for their AI operations and, over time, attract even more customers who want to immerse themselves in more complete and higher-cost plans. Limitations to justify the price. The version of Gemini 3 Pro included in AI Plus has significant restrictions compared to the AI ​​Pro subscription of 22 euros per month. For example, the context window is drastically reduced from 1 million tokens to 128,000, which means that the model will “forget” information much sooner in long conversations or when analyzing long documents. Monthly credits for creation tools are also five times lower: 200 versus 1,000 in the Pro version. Google gives away AI to its storage customers. The company is adding all AI Plus features automatically to existing subscribers of Google One Premium (2 TB for 9.99 euros per month) at no additional cost. This avoids the absurd situation where paying more would result in having fewer features, but it also shows Google’s commitment to getting its users who pay for storage familiar with Gemini without them having to think twice. A change for the media. Google is building a monetization strategy around AI, and that affects the media. In this way, the media goes from being the user’s final destination to becoming data providers to train and feed AI responses. When Gemini responds directly instead of displaying blue links, traffic to the original sites evaporates, along with the advertising revenue they generated. The issue is somewhat tricky and it is still unknown how all the parties involved are going to agree. Subscriptions. Google is betting on a freemium model that allows it to make its investment in AI profitable without completely abandoning its traditional advertising business. The question is whether users will be willing to pay for something that until now they considered free. Unlike Netflix or Spotify, AI subscriptions They are still a relatively new concept to the general public. We will have to wait to find out if this tightrope walk balancing exercise by Google ends up convincing in the long term. In Xataka | The number of new apps coming to the App Store has skyrocketed. We have a culprit: “vibe coding”

Apple Creator Studio is not just a subscription. It’s Apple looking to conquer the little tiktoker who uses CapCut and Canva

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Just a few days ago, Apple announced the launch of a new service: Apple Creator Studio. Roughly speaking, The apple firm has updated its suite of creative tools to bring them to a more specific audience who, instead of a single payment per tool, may be more interested in an affordable subscription that allows access to all of them. Looking at it with perspective, and without losing sight of the fact that it is another recurring expense to add to the current account, perhaps it makes a lot of sense for a very particular profile: the small creator. What’s included in Apple Creator Studio. To give a quick summary, the subscription costs 12.99 euros per month (129 euros if you pay annually or 2.99 if you are a student) and allows access to the entire suite of Apple creativity apps. We are talking, of course, about Final Cut, Logic Pro, Pixelmator ProMotion, Compressor and MainStage. Additionally, some generative AI features and exclusive content are included in Freeform, Keynote, Pages and Numbers. Pixelmator Pro | Image: Apple Some quick accounts. Thinking only about the Mac versions, the cost of all the creativity apps would amount to 794.94 euros. One-time payment, yes, but close to 800 euros. Apple Creator Studio costs 12.99 euros. It would take 61 monthly payments, that is, five years, to reach the total amount of the single payment. And who is this for? Although for a professional user 800 euros may not be such a high figure, for the small creator looking to use professional tools on their Mac, 12.99 euros per month may sound more attractive than 800 euros in one fell swoop. Not to mention that the subscription includes access on all platforms, namely Mac, iPad and iPhone, whenever possible. And Apple is clear that this subscription is not for Pixar, but for the small creator who has and manages himself a TikTok account, a YouTube channel, an Instagram profile and a podcast. For those who, right now, pay for CapCut, Photoshop, Premiere or Canva. Apple wants to tempt you with a more affordable, all-inclusive subscription and integration. Pixelmator Pro | Image: Apple Why now? From Xataka we have had the opportunity to speak with Bryan O’Neil Hughes (Global Director of App Product Marketing at Apple) and John Danty (Senior Global App Product Marketing Manager at Apple). Brian explains to us that this service responds to the “change in the nature of creators.” According to the executive, creators “no longer do just one thing; they need to manage multiple creative workflows and we want to serve them with these evolved apps.” According to Brian, “today’s creators are multidisciplinary: a musician not only writes songs, he also produces, designs his art, edits videos and creates promotional material.” Final Cut Pro | Image: Apple That explains the two options.. However, one thing is worth asking. If Apple is betting so heavily on services, being an almost more important source of income than the iPhonewhy keep the single payment? Danty explains to us that they want to “preserve our relationship with the professional community. Those who already have versions of Final Cut or Logic Pro will continue to receive updates and features such as beat detection.” This makes sense from a practical point of view. The video editor that only edits video will not take advantage of an app like Logic Pro or Pixelmator Pro, in the same way that an illustrator will not take advantage of Logic Pro or MainStage. The single payment is, in that case, more attractive. But to the tiktoker, instagramer, youtuber or budding singer who does everything himself, having access to all the tools doesn’t sound bad. In Brian’s words, “There is an explosion of content, driven in large part by the iPhone. More video is being captured, edited and shared than ever before and our apps are there to participate in that user journey.” Chord ID in Logic Pro | Image: Apple The topic of AI. John Danty explains to us that Apple’s philosophy is to “amplify, not replace human dexterity.” Features like Montage Maker and Chord ID They automate tasks that previously required learning technical skills, but now AI has a role in that creative flow that, in some way, could prevent the user from learning on their own. Brian and John understand it differently. For example, Montage Maker allows you to put together a quick video with the best moments of all the b-roll. For Bryan, “it helps those who have a lot of material and want to move quickly, but the editing and final polishing still depends on the user.” chord ID uses AI to pull chords from any recording and turn it into a progression, so “it helps you understand what you’re playing, which becomes a learning tool,” according to Danty. A matter of preferences. Be that as it may, there are three undeniable realities in this new release. The first, that Apple is going to start charging for applied AI functions. The second, that Canva, CapCut and Adobe have come up with a new-rather-renewed rival. The third, which even though it has an attractive price, is one more subscription that is added to the ones we already have and to generalized satiety with this monetization. How it will gel and evolve is something we will see over time. Images | Apple In Xataka | The incredible stock market performance of Big Tech, in a graph: the magnificent seven are now the unleashed seven

Ryanair thought it could build loyalty with a subscription service. Until you’ve remembered what your real business is

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“It has cost more money than it generates” With a brief note and the statements of Dara Brady, CMO of the company, Ryanair has confirmed the closure of Prime, the membership program that sought to retain its customers with advantages that have generated greater costs for the company than benefits. The subscription service of the company has not lasted even a year before its cancellation. Surgical. A test, some results eight months later and a decision: close Prime. Ryanair has confirmed that it is closing its subscription program just eight months after it was launched on the market in a decision that is as firm as it is clean. Subscribers will maintain their benefits but those who had not signed up until last Friday, the 28th, will now no longer be able to do so. They report on the company’s website that customers will maintain their benefits “of exclusive savings on flights and seats for the remaining 12 months of membership.” However, the company’s Prime program already has its days numbered. two million. It doesn’t seem like much for a company like Ryanair, but it speaks volumes about the rigorous cost control that the company manages. The statement includes the words of Dara Brady, CMO of Ryanair, who points out that the program has collected 4.4 million euros in subscriptions but that the benefits delivered are greater than six million euros. That is, in the eight months in which the service has been active, the company has lost less than 250,000 euros per month in the new program. Doesn’t seem like much for a company that has obtained 2,540 million euros in the first quarter of 2025. What did they offer? In its announcement last March, Ryanair offered the following benefits For your subscribers: Priority sale on selected flights Exclusive discounts for some flights Free seat selection for the member and one companion To access these benefits, the client had to pay 79 euros per year. According to the company’s accounts, seat selection alone already amortized the investment from three flights a year. With four flights made per year, we would be amortizing 26 euros on average. The subscription extended for a maximum of one year or 12 flights per year. In addition, I had travel insurance to cancel flights due to injuries or illnesses, the delay of other flights or theft of luggage. Of course, those over 70 years of age were excluded from sickness coverage. Unattractive. “With more than 207 million passengers this year, Ryanair will remain focused on offering the lowest fares in Europe to all our customers, and not just this group of 55,000 Prime members.” The closing of the press release published by the company is a clear confirmation of what happened. The most attractive thing that Prime offered was that the customer could choose (and save money) in the choice of seats but it did not even guarantee that two passengers (one being “non-Prime”) could travel together. It is an incentive that has not been attractive enough for a company where the customer looks for the cheapest way to travel and chooses to add services little by little, depending on how much money you are willing to pay. Nothing premium. Ryanair’s test has convinced the company that it has no room to delve into policies that bring it closer to premium or higher-cost companies. Many of the airlines with higher prices offer cards or loyalty services to keep their customers retained, but this way of acting has not caught on among the Irish company’s customers. The reasons are obvious. When someone chooses Ryanair it is because they expect the lowest possible price for a short flight. And you are willing to sacrifice by traveling with less luggage or accepting 100% digital boarding. You either take it or leave it. And Ryanair knows that the customer will leave it when the competition offers that same flight at a cheaper price. On the other hand, customers who are loyal to higher-cost companies obtain other advantages that do receive greater attention on flights of higher cost and time. For example, loyalty cards companies like Iberia They allow access to VIP lounges or priority boarding, secondary values ​​for those who aspire to travel through Europe at the lowest possible price. To this we must add that the high price paid for the ticket ends up subsidizing these companies for the economic effort they have to make to deliver the benefits to their customers. Photo | Markus Winkler In Xataka | Now we know why Ryanair charges its passengers for everything: it is the key to having a profit of 2,540 million euros

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