https://thenextweb.com/apple/2019/02/01/this-weeks-facebook-google-apple-drama-explained/

With so much happening in the tech world, this week feels like it’s 21 days long. The highlight of the week has been the Facebook–Google–Apple saga that’s seen numerous developments with major privacy implications over just a few hours. There’s a lot to chew on in this story, so I’d like to present a timeline of events to help you catch up with what’s been going with these three tech giants over the past couple of days.

Late Tuesday night, TechCrunch published a sensational story detailing how Facebook paid $20 to users – some in their teens – to let the company monitor their activities on their iPhones. It used a rehashed VPN app, named it Facebook Research, circumvented the App Store to distribute it, and used non-Apple beta testing platforms like Applause, BetaBound, and uTest in order to avoid running afoul of Apple’s policies for software on its platform.