News and notes on the latest from Google.
Google has been redesigning its apps one by one to match its new Material Theme. A few months back, Gmail and G Suite received a Material redesign. Now’s the time for the app that really needs it: the Play Store. Earlier, 9to5Google was able to get us some early pictures of the redesign, but now, it’s officially rolling out to users.
Google has been redesigning its apps one by one to match its new Material Theme. A few months back, Gmail and G Suite received a Material makeover. Now’s the time for the app that really needs it: the Play Store. The redesign isn’t out yet, but 9to5Google was able to forcefully enable it.
Continue reading “The Play Store’s Material Theme redesign is coming soon, and here’s how it looks”
Android—and any OS for that matter—would be nowhere near as popular as it is without the great support of the many developers making apps for the market. However, Android developers are now claiming that Google’s behavior and policies for making apps are “ridiculously unsustainable.”
A VPN service should adhere to certain standards: ensure that your data remains safe from prying eyes. The Onavo app, owned by Facebook, is a VPN service that collects your: mobile traffic, location, installed/opened apps, visited websites, and more.
Continue reading “PSA: Do not use the Onavo app by Facebook”
Digital Wellbeing was one of the major announcements of Android Pie. However, it didn’t make it into the final release and is set to release in fall. Users with a Pixel phone could sign up to test the beta by filling out a Google Form and then getting invited to try it out, but now, it’s available on the Play Store as a public beta.
Continue reading “Digital Wellbeing is now available on the Play Store as a public beta”
Earlier this week we had talked about how fake VPN apps which only serve ads were filling up the Play Store. We are glad to see that Google is taking some cognizance of this widespread issue, taking cheating developers to task. Google also banned cryptocurrency miners, which utilize the phone’s CPU/GPU to mine cryptocurrencies.
Continue reading “Google bans apps whose sole aim is to serve ads, crypto-miners, and more”
Update 7/28, 12:14 PM CT: Huawei is now negotiating with VideoLAN over a possible solution.
If you have bought any modern Android-powered phone from Huawei—or its subdivision Honor—chances are high that you experienced some of Huawei’s additions to the OS in the form of its own skin dubbed as EMUI. Some of these changes are highly appreciable and add more convenience to the user experience, be it some changes to the UI or extra functionality over what the so-called stock Android baseline provides. Other changes might not be so appreciated, among which is Huawei’s own vision of how to manage the running background apps.
Continue reading “Huawei and Honor phones can no longer install VLC from the Google Play Store”
Google relies on automation when it comes to quality control on the Google Play Store. The result is quite clear: the Play Store is filled with fakes, and there is zero interest from Google on fixing this. Nikolaos Chrysaidos, a security researcher has recently shared his findings on Twitter. The store has dozens of fake VPN apps, which only present the user with ads, and do not actually work.
Continue reading “Fake VPN apps plague the Google Play Store”
Recently, Google has started this trend where it’s taking features from one Play app and adding it to a “Google app.” Personally, I think it’s time for Google to kill the “Play” brand and go all in on the “Google” name. Continue reading “Opinion: It’s time Google kills “Play””
Google updated its Play Books service to bring audiobooks to it with Google Assistant integration and casting support. Google now offers audiobooks at individual prices for anyone who wants to buy them. Purchased audiobooks are added to your library and can be shared via a family library with other Google accounts.
Continue reading “Google Play Books now offers audiobooks with Assistant and Cast support”
