Items tagged with google play store
Vice President for Partnerships at Google James Kolotouros testified during the Epic versus Google antitrust trial that the search giant agreed to pay $8 billion over four years to Samsung Electronics Company to make its search engine, voice assistant, and Play Store the default on Galaxy devices. Kolotouros testified...
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The Google Camera app has been quietly replaced with the Pixel Camera app in the Google Play Store. The Pixel-exclusive app also received a new app description with a few hints at what Pixel owners will be able to do with the newly labeled app, suggesting there's more than just a name change afoot.
One of the...
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Google wants its Play Store users to have more control over their app account data by allowing them to delete their account and/or data directly within the app or online. Chalk that up as a nice win for personal data privacy.
In an announcement yesterday, Google laid down new rules that will require Android app...
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The Mozilla Foundation has released a study into Google Play Store's Data Safety labels that found nearly 80 percent of the apps reviewed were false or misleading. Apps such as TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook are listed among those that are misleading its users.
The study, "See No Evil: How Loopholes in the Google...
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Santa Claus is coming to town, and NORAD is giving everyone an easy way to track the jolly fellow. You can prepare your Santa watch party by visiting the NORAD Tracks Santa website, or by downloading the Android or iOS app.
Santa is making a list and checking it twice ahead of his annual trip around the world to...
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Near the end of 2020, Apple introduced a dedicated app privacy section to the App Store, requiring developers to disclose what user information is linked to users’ identities and used to track them. Then, in May of 2021, Google announced that a similar feature was in the works for its Play Store. Almost a year later...
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Lately, Google has been making some changes to Play Store policies. The company recently announced that Android apps would be barred from using the Accessibility API for recording phone calls. Google also started rolling out a new data safety section to the Play Store that will require app developers to disclose their...
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Last week, Google introduced its new data safety section for the Play Store, which states that Android application developers have until July 20th to fully disclose their data collection, sharing, and safety practices. A new analysis of popular Android apps shows why this kind of data collection transparency is...
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Back in May of 2021, Google announced that privacy labels would be coming to the Google Play Store. Now, almost a year later, the company has announced that it will soon be rolling these labels out to the Play Store with requirements for application developers. The Google Play Store already features an expandable...
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Google has addressed concerns over possible stalking using Apple's AirTag with a new detection app. The Tracker Detect app looks for item trackers that are compatible with Apple's Find My network and that are potentially abusing the device to stalk someone.
AirTags recently made the news as car thieves in Canada...
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Google has announced that it is making changes in the next major release of Android that is probably music to Epic Games’ ears. As you recall, over the summer, Epic got into a heated battle with Apple and Google over the cut that each developer took out its revenue stream from the App Store and the Play Store...
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It looks as though the Trump administration is going nuclear on TikTok, and WeChat has been dragged into the mix as well. The U.S. Commerce Department has issued an order that goes into effect September 20th that will effectively ban anyone in the United States from downloading either app.
The order [PDF], which...
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Updated 8/13/2020 @ 3:40pm
Well, that escalated quickly. Apple has gone nuclear, kicking Fortnite out of the App Store after Epic Games decided to circumvent fees with its own payment system. We can't say that we didn't see this coming, but Apple is putting its foot own in a commanding way given that Fortnite is one...
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Many smartphone users would agree that bloatware, or pre-installed apps that cannot be deleted, are fairly irritating. However, several organizations are now also arguing that bloatware could potentially violate users’ privacy. An open letter from over fifty groups has requested that Google prevent bloatware from...
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Earlier this week, Qualcomm announced its Snapdragon 865 Mobile Platform, which alongside the Snapdragon X55 will power next year's flagship 5G Android smartphones. While the chip itself got the bulk of the attention, Qualcomm made another announcement that has huge implications for the mobile sector.
Qualcomm...
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Malware has been a common problem within the Google Play Store, and two apps that have run a malicious adware scheme have been the latest to get the boot. The apps have been raking in the cash for their authors, but have consequently been putting the people who have downloaded them through living hell.
The first of...
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Earlier this week, you brought you the news of an unfortunate turn of events that resulted in the popular app CamScanner being removed from the Google Play Store. The app, which can create PDF documents, is developed by CC Intelligence and has been downloaded over 100 million times.
The problem came into play when...
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There's trouble brewing in the Google Play Store... again. This time the threat comes from CamScanner, which for quite some time has been a popular app that allows Android users to create PDF documents using optical character recognition (OCR) technology. The app was developed by Chinese firm CC...
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How much data are Android apps gathering from your device? A recent study concluded that over 1,000 Android apps are able to take a user’s data even if that user has denied permissions. These apps are able to harvest geolocation data and other identifiers.
Researchers at the International Computer Science Institute...
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Google can't seem to figure out how to stop nefarious developers from offering apps via Google Play that are filled with malware and adware. In April, word surfaced that apps with ties to a group called DU Group were committing click fraud and amassed over 50 million downloads. A new group of apps with far more...
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The U.S. government's war on Huawei – which has risen to become the world’s second-largest smartphone OEM -- has just taken a rather interesting turn. According to a report out this afternoon, Google has suspended its business operations with Huawei following the Trump Administration's recent move to add the...
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Who doesn’t love free credits? Google is currently offering $1, $2, $3 or $5 credits to some Play Store users. You may not be able to “make it rain”, but you may be able to nab an app you have been eyeing.
Google appears to be offering a $2 credit to consumers who purchased a Pixel 3 or 3 XL. It also seems to be...
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