Apple Pay lands in India half-ready, Reddit shuts RSS, AI junk breaks a bug bounty
Apple Pay is finally live in India, though only for Axis cards. Reddit is closing its free API and RSS, Google froze a bug bounty over AI junk, plus a storage fix and a subscription-audit prompt.
- Long Press · Daily Five5 Oct 202601 / 05
commentaryApple Pay is finally live in India, with strings attached
Apple Pay finally works in India, roughly ten years after it launched in the US. The launch partner is Axis Bank alone, on Visa and Mastercard cards. RuPay isn't supported, UPI isn't supported, and HDFC and ICICI are still described as being in talks. Tapping an iPhone at Croma or paying on Zomato is pleasant if you hold the right card, but for anyone who pays by scanning a QR code, it's a curiosity for now.
The problem
India pays by UPI, not by tapping cards. Apple stayed out for years because its card-first model didn't fit a market where the default payment is a QR code and a PIN.
What changed
Apple Pay went live on September 30 with Axis Bank Visa and Mastercard cards, working on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, with Mac support said to follow. It works at NFC terminals and online, with merchants like Blinkit, Croma, Ixigo, Reliance brands, Tata 1mg and Zomato, through processors including Razorpay, PayU, Paytm and Pine Labs.
The catch
No RuPay and no UPI, and acceptance depends on whether a given terminal's acquirer has switched it on, so the same card can work at one shop and fail at the next. Apple reportedly takes around 0.2% per transaction, which banks will feel.
What it means for you
If you already carry an Axis Visa or Mastercard card, add it to Wallet and try it at Croma. Everyone else can keep paying by UPI and check back when HDFC, ICICI or RuPay show up.
- Long Press · Daily Five5 Oct 202602 / 05
newsReddit is shutting RSS and its free API
Reddit stops accepting new public API requests on October 31, ends RSS feeds on November 13, and shuts the rest of the free Data API by March 2027. Mod bots and research tools have to move to Devvit, Reddit's own TypeScript-only platform, or sign a paid deal. Calling this a spam cleanup misses the point. It's about AI licensing money: users wrote the posts, and Reddit gets paid for them.
The problem
Reddit's archive is some of the most valuable human-written text on the web, and AI companies want it. Free API and RSS access let anyone read it in bulk without paying.
What changed
New public API requests stop on October 31, RSS support ends November 13, unregistered access closes January 12, 2027, and the remaining public Data API shuts in March 2027. Developers of more than 14,000 registered apps must move to Devvit or a commercial agreement, with a $1 million bounty paying $1,000 per ported app.
The catch
Devvit is TypeScript-only, so the many moderation bots written in Python need a rewrite, and the volunteer mods who keep subreddits clean are the ones doing that work for free.
What it means for you
If you follow subreddits in an RSS reader like Feedly or Inoreader, those feeds stop on November 13. Move them to Reddit's own follow feature or accept that you'll be checking the app.
- Long Press · Daily Five5 Oct 202603 / 05
tipGoogle Photos can delete the copies you no longer need
If Google Photos backs up your pictures, your phone is still keeping its own copy of every one. Open Photos, tap your profile picture, then Free up space on this device. It removes only the local copies that are already backed up, and photos from the last 30 days may stay. Check that backup is actually on before you tap it.
The problem
Phone storage fills up with photos you've already backed up, so people end up deleting apps or paying for a bigger phone or more cloud space.
What changed
Google Photos has a built-in Free up space on this device option under your profile picture. It shows how much it will clear, then removes only items that are backed up to your account.
The catch
Removed photos disappear from your phone's own gallery and aren't viewable offline. They sit in trash for 30 days, and if a photo wasn't actually backed up, deleting it can be permanent.
What it means for you
Confirm backup is on, run it once, and see how many GB come back before you buy storage of any kind.
- Long Press · Daily Five5 Oct 202604 / 05
hot takeAI junk reports just broke Google's open source bug bounty
Google has paused its open source bug bounty, and AI is the reason. The program froze on October 1 with an update promised in Q1 2027, after what Google called a significant rise in automated submissions, the vast majority of which are not valid. People are reading this as a spam story. It's a security story: every hour a maintainer spends on a hallucinated bug report is an hour not spent fixing a real one.
The problem
Bug bounties pay people to find security holes in software that half the internet depends on. They only work if the people reviewing reports can keep up.
What changed
Google paused its Open Source Software Vulnerability Rewards Program as of October 1, 2026, citing a flood of automated submissions that were mostly invalid. It says it will share an update in Q1 2027 and points researchers to its other bounty programs in the meantime.
The catch
Google hasn't published numbers, so we don't know how bad the flood was. And pausing the payouts doesn't stop the junk reports landing on volunteer maintainers who never had a budget to begin with.
What it means for you
If you use AI to hunt bugs, reproduce the bug yourself before you file it. If you run an open source project, expect more of this, and make proof-of-concept code a requirement for reports.
- Long Press · Daily Five5 Oct 202605 / 05
aiOne prompt that finds the subscriptions you forgot
Export three months of card or bank statements, mask your account numbers, and paste them into ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude with this: "List every recurring charge with amount, frequency and yearly total in rupees. Flag duplicates and free trials that turned paid. Rank the 3 I should cancel first, and why." Seeing the yearly number does most of the work.
The problem
Small monthly charges are easy to ignore. Rs 149 here and Rs 299 there never feels like much until you add a year of them up.
What changed
Any of the big chatbots can read a pasted statement, pick out recurring charges and total them for the year. The prompt asks for duplicates, trials that quietly converted, and a ranked cancel list, so you get a decision rather than just a table.
The catch
Mask account numbers and anything personal before pasting, and double-check the totals yourself, since chatbots can misread a messy PDF.
What it means for you
Run it once this week. Most people find at least one charge they'd forgotten, and cancelling it pays for the five minutes.