Tag: android
Google paid Activision Blizzard to stay on Play Store
Florian Mueller (via Michael Tsai): The world now knows that in January 2020, Google signed a three-year agreement with Activision Blizzard King (“ABK”), “pursuant to which Google agreed to pay ABK approximately $360 million” in order to dissuade Activision Blizzard from creating its own Android app store. Three-hundred and sixty million dollars for not competing. Bad timing.…
Privacy Sandbox on Android
Google: While we design, build and test these new solutions, we plan to support existing ads platform features for at least two years, and we intend to provide substantial notice ahead of any future changes. So it’s being built and tested. Android users will still be subjected to ads tracking for the next two years.
Why is video quality on Instagram and Snapchat so much worse on Android than iOS?
Android Central: It’s the case of one versus many again. When you add hundreds of different phones with hundreds of different cameras and hundreds of different screen sizes and resolutions, it can seem impossible. With Android, that’s what you have. Developers have a particular set of rules and instructions about how to use the camera…
Two-thirds of all Android antivirus apps are frauds
Catalin Cimpanu reported ZDNet that two-thirds of all Android antivirus apps are frauds. That means that 170 of the 250 Android antivirus apps had failed the organization’s most basic detection tests, and were, for all intent and purposes, a sham. “Most of the above apps, as well as the risky apps already mentioned, appear to…
Apple tells app developers to disclose or remove screen recording code
Zack Whittaker reported for TechCrunch that Apple is telling app developers to disclose or remove screen recording code. It follows an investigation by TechCrunch that revealed major companies, like Expedia, Hollister and Hotels.com, were using a third-party analytics tool to record every tap and swipe inside the app. We found that none of the apps…
Phone makers are messing with Android’s memory management
Jerry Hildenbrand wrote for Android Central about phone makers messing with Android’s memory management. From Dontkillmyapp’s list, Nokia is the example I’ll use here, but the list of offenders includes OnePlus, Sony, and Samsung, too. Even Google itself is called out for making it difficult to exempt an app from getting “Dozed”. Nokia includes an…
Android phones unlocked with a 3D-printed head
Forbes reported that they broke into a bunch of Android phones with a 3D-printed head. We tested four of the hottest handsets running Google’s operating systems and Apple’s iPhone to see how easy it’d be to break into them. We did it with a 3D-printed head. All of the Androids opened with the fake. Apple’s…
Google can no longer force Android device makers to include the Play Store in Europe
The Verge reported that Google will start charging Android device makers a fee for using its apps in Europe. There is one other key change happening here. In the past, Google required that companies building phones or tablets that included the Play Store only build phones and tablets that included the Play Store — they…
Google Chrome on an idle Android phone sends nearly fifty times more requests per hour than iOS on Safari
Digital Content Next reported that Google Chrome on an idle Android phone sends nearly fifty times more requests per hour than iOS on Safari. A dormant, stationary Android phone (with the Chrome browser active in the background) communicated location information to Google 340 times during a 24-hour period, or at an average of 14 data…
European Commission fines Google €4.34 billion for illegal practices regarding Android mobile devices
The European Commission released a statement on fining Google €4.34 billion for illegal practices regarding Android mobile devices to strengthen dominance of Google’s search engine. The European Commission has fined Google €4.34 billion for breaching EU antitrust rules. Since 2011, Google has imposed illegal restrictions on Android device manufacturers and mobile network operators to cement…