Items tagged with App
Google is facing a serious issue with privacy and malicious apps on the Google Play store for Android users. The company recently kicked 85 apps that were malware-laden off the Play Store, and has now announced that the removal process for any apps that ask for SMS or Call Log permissions is beginning for developers who fail to follow specific steps. The policy change was announced last year, and Google has reportedly been reminding devs of the change. Removals for violation of the policy will begin in the next few weeks. Android users who have been using an alternative dialer or messaging app could be impacted. The reason for the policy change is that call and SMS log permissions have been abused...
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TiVo fans will be getting a new app later in 2019 that will expand the capabilities of its ecosystem. At CES 2019 TiVo showed off new apps for Apple TV, Fire TV, and Roku devices that will allow users with TiVo boxes to view live and recorded content on multiple TVs in their home. The cool part about that feature is that it uses the customer's existing hardware and doesn't require them to purchase additional TiVo set-top boxes, like the recently announced Bolt, or the currently available TiVo Mini. TiVo has stated that it expects to launch the apps during Q2 and Q3 of 2019. The first app to launch will be for Fire TV users, the Roku app will come next, with the Apple TV app being last. The way...
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The Weather Channel is one of the the most watched channels on TV and and its app is widely used to gather weather information for cities all around the country. The app claims to have 45 million active monthly users, and the city attorney for Los Angeles filed a lawsuit this week alleging that the app had deceptively collected, shared, and profited from location information on millions of American consumers. According to the lawsuit, the Weather Company, the company behind the app, had unfairly manipulated users into turning on location tracking by suggesting that the location data would only be used to localize weather reports. However, the company also used the data that it gathered for...
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If you thought that the iOS ecosystem was completely safe from scammy apps and malware, you would be wrong. Apple's App Store certainly has fewer incidences of scammy apps being put up for download by users than Google Play does because Apple checks apps out before they can be offered on the App Store. Apple is now dealing with scammy apps that made it through review and leveraged the Touch ID platform to try and trick users into making payments they didn't want to authorize. Two apps were doing this with one called "Fitness Balance" and the other called "Calories Tracker." Both apps used the same tactic to steal money; they would claim that the user needed to place their finger on the Touch...
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Apple has announced a strategic partnership with Salesforce that will combine iOS and the Salesforce customer relationship management platform to bring new features to business users. The two companies are working together to bring Salesforce developers a new Salesforce Mobile SDK for iOS and a new iOS App Development course available via a free, web-based learning platform Salesforce calls Trailhead. Apple CEO Tim Cook notes that the new SDK and native Salesforce apps along with iOS on Apple device will give developers the tools they need to deliver better customer experiences. Salesforce plans to completely redesign its mobile app in cooperation with Apple to add capabilities like Siri...
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Hurricane Florence is expected to hit the East Coast of the United States at the end of this week. People are preparing for the hurricane’s landfall in a variety of ways, including downloading useful apps. One of the most popular apps is Zello, an app that allows people to use their phones as a two-way radio. Zello is a free app that is available in the App Store and Google Play. It is available on Android, iOS, Windows, and Blackberry devices as well as PC’s with the Zello for Windows PC program. Users are able to create their own channels with up to 2500 members or connect with existing ones. People can search for specific topics like Hurricane Florence and join related channels....
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Love or hate Apple there is no denying that the company is a behemoth and it is the most valuable company in the world right now. While sales of smartphones have sagged globally because people are holding onto their devices for long and computer sales sag for the same reasons, Apple continues to grow. Much of that growth is laid at the feet of the booming app ecosystem and the fact that Apple takes a 30% cut of sales and subscriptions from the App Store, with that cut decreasing to 15% after the first year of a subscription. Netflix is running an experiment with its iOS app that is specifically meant to save it from Apple's 30% tax on subscriptions. As it stands now, any iOS user who downloads...
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Microsoft seems intent on allowing you to access all the things from your Android device on your Windows computer. The biggest of these features has been the much talked about Your Phone app that is in testing and will be part of Redstone 5 build 1809. Your Phone will mirror content like recent Android photos over to your desktop to prevent users from having to email images to themselves. Eventually, it will allow users to text and answer calls directly on the PC. As Windows and Android users are waiting to get full Your Phone availability, Microsoft is also talking up another way to share between your Android device and your PC or Mac in the form of a new feature coming for Skype. The Skype...
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Google Maps is widely used all around the world and it has recently been pumped full of new features, like personalized recommendations. Google is adding another feature that at first glance might seem silly. This feature sends details on how much battery charge is left on your smartphone when you share your location with someone. Why would they care how much battery life is left on your device? Parents who have kids share their location with them during transit times to and from school or a friend's home will find the battery life feature useful. A parent would be more at ease if a child shares their location data showing that their battery is at 5 percent, which would give them a...
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Google has had a difficult time keeping its upcoming Pixel 3 smartphone a secret. There have been an abundance of leaks, with one from last week confirming that the device has a single rear camera and a notched screen. Previous leaks had shown what the device will look like in its black and white versions. A new Google app 8.14 beta has also rolled out, which features some code that references a companion device called the "Pixel Stand." The Pixel Stand is expected to launch along with the Pixel 3 smartphone this fall. The code suggests that the Pixel Stand will let users get "personalized help" when the smartphone is docked. The code in question can be read below: There are other interesting...
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With Microsoft's own smartphone OS on its deathbed, the software giant is now focusing on Android and iOS devices. It's admittedly odd to see Microsoft making apps specifically for Android and iOS given that Apple and Google are two of its biggest rivals. Sources claim that Microsoft has been working on a new app for both iOS and Android devices called Microsoft Movies & TV. Currently, that app is only available on Windows-based devices like the PC, Xbox, and Windows 10 Mobile devices and supports content from the Microsoft Store. With a version of that app coming for iOS and Android, movie and TV fans with large catalogs of content purchased from Microsoft can finally free that content from...
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Something interesting is going on with Google Maps regarding a “new” feature. Some people are claiming they have had this feature for a long time, others are seeing it for the first time. The feature in question is incident reporting, something that has made navigation app Waze popular with users. Google has long had traffic information integrated, but data on road work and closures hasn't been part of the app for most users. While some users are claiming, according to reports, to have had incident reporting for a year or more, others haven’t had it at all. I personally use Google Maps in the Colorado Springs/Denver areas all the time and haven’t had incident reporting...
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Android users who favor Android Messages as their default messaging application will be thrilled to hear that Google has begun the rollout of desktop browser support. That means that text messages can be sent and read on the PC. The rollout of the new feature will be staggered throughout the remainder of the week. The web version of Android Messages will support text, images, and stickers giving the full experience from the desktop. The process for using the web version requires users to hit up the Android Messages website where you will find a QR code that creates a link between the smartphone and the desktop. You then scan that QR code with the appropriate section of the Messages app. Sometimes...
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Valve had many gamers excited when it announced that the Steam Link app would let you stream games from your PC to your iOS device. Not so long after the announcement, Steam Link landed in beta on Google Play for Android aficionados. Unfortunately for the iOS users, Apple blocked the app with Phil Schiller explaining that the app violated App Store rules. However, revised app store rules gave hope that Steam Link might still make it. Valve is now trying to get past Apple censors by removing the purchase options inside the app that was released to TestFlight. Reports claiming that violations that have to do with in-app purchases were one of the things that got Steam Link...
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Apple will give users a way to better report unwanted messages and calls as spam in iOS 12 using a feature called "Unwanted Communication." Documentation from Apple shows that the feature will allow developers to build in the ability to report unwanted calls and messages into their apps. If the iPhone owner chooses to enable Unwanted Communication, they would be able to swipe left on an item in the "Recents" tab of the Phone app and a new "Report" option would be listed there. The Messages app would also have a similar swipe left to report, or reports could be made with a long-press on the message itself. After a report is filed, the app will launch an extension to gather more details from the...
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Philips heavily invested into tech that it integrated with some of its higher-end TVs years back called Ambiglow or Ambilight. That tech put a backlight behind the TV that would glow to match the action on screen with light that filled the room. Watch a flick with the Incredible Hulk and your room would glow green. It is slick technology that not only improved immersion in a movie, but the light also helped to bias the eye to prevent flicker from the screen from straining your eyes in a dark room. Philips is now doing something similar for owners of its Hue lightbulbs with a new app called "Philips Hue Sync" for Mac and Windows. With that app, the user can sync Hue lightbulbs with films, music,...
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It looks like Android fans have another thing they can hold over the heads of their iOS-using pals. The Steam Link app launched in beta form on Android earlier this month. The app had originally been approved by Apple to launch on iOS, but this week the planned launch was quashed by Apple when it reversed its decision and blocked the app's launch. Apple listed the reason for blocking the app as "business conflicts with app guidelines." There is no clarification on exactly what business guidelines Steam Link app ran afoul of. Speculation suggests that the issue was that the Steam Link app allows Apple device users to access another store, in this cases Steam, where they can buy games and play...
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Kermit the Frog famously sang "It's not easy being green", and he should have added that it's not cheap either. Sony has added a new 10-inch model to its Digital Paper line and this thing is essentially a sheet of paper that never runs out. The idea is to help reduce the amount of ink and paper you use, which could be a big deal if you work in an environment where there is typically lots of printing and annotation of physical documents. The new 10-inch Digital Paper model is called the DPT-CP1 and it is meant to be notebook-sized. It slips into the Sony Digital Paper line along with the larger pre-existing 13-inch DPT-RP1 and offers the same reading, annotating, and note taking capability that...
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Earlier this month Valve announced that it would be releasing a new app called Steam Link allowing you to play PC games on your mobile device. Steam Link was promised to land by the end of May and now the Steam Link beta is available via Google Play. The app does exactly what was promised; it allows you to stream PC games via Steam if the smartphone is connected to a PC close by over a 5GHz WiFi network. The PC also must be connected directly to your router via an Ethernet cable. Steam Link won’t function over an LTE connection, which means no streamed PC games from across town. Controlling the games on your mobile device can be accomplished with the Steam Controller or to other Bluetooth...
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Microsoft had a trick up its sleeves at the Microsoft Build conference last week, one that integrates Windows 10 with your smartphone. The app is called "Your Phone" and it is a Universal Windows Platform (UWP) app that will be pushed for Windows Insiders in the coming weeks. No exact ETA is known at this time. What it does is allow users to access text messages, photos, and notifications on any Windows 10 PC from your phone. Microsoft's Windows 10 'Your Phone' Microsoft has also suggested that it will allow users to drag and drop photos from the phone to the PC without having to touch the smartphone. The demo shown off at Build used an Android smartphone and showed that you can drag a photo...
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Anyone paying for mobile phone service for a smartphone knows that plans have become very expensive; only a couple lines can cost you well over $100 monthly. Verizon has quietly launched a new startup service called Visible that is a no contract, unlimited plan that offers mobile service via an app. For $40 per month you get unlimited data, minutes, and messaging services. Subscribing involves downloading the Visible app and registering your account, assuming you have an invite. For now, the only way to get in on the action is to be invited from someone who is already on the Visible service. You also must be using an iOS device, Android isn't supported for now. You will get a SIM card in the...
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There has been a lot of cool technology shown off at Google I/O, including Google Duplex and the Google Assistant having the ability to book appointments for us. But that's not all that Google announced at its annual conference. Google Maps will be getting some cool new features that will make the app more useful for everyday users. One of those new features is augmented reality directions that give a Street View mode with directions that you can follow in real time. The AR direction feature is a mash-up of the existing Street View tech and Maps data that feeds live video from your phone's camera to overlay walking directions on the real world. That means you don’t get lost as...
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