In case you couldn't tell by how often Google makes headlines nowadays by purging the Play Store of various types of malicious Android apps, the search giant has significantly ramped up the fight against "bad actors" and shady developers. At the same time, it's unfortunately also abundantly clear that there's a lot more work to be done in the mobile security and user privacy protection fields.As highlighted in a new Android Developers Blog post, "bad actors will continue to try to evade" Google's increasingly complex systems by "changing their tactics and cloaking bad behaviors." But the good news is great, concrete progress is being made towards not only cleaning up the Play Store of malware, but perhaps more importantly, stopping potentially harmful applications from entering the digital marketplace in the first place.While Google is being all secretive about the actual number of apps blocked before anyone could download them in 2018, the yearly total of rejected submissions is said … [Read more...] about Google is blocking more malicious apps from entering the Play Store than ever, but it’s still not enough
Unfortunately play store has stopped
[Update: Launching Dec. 4th] EA’s new free-to-play RTS, ‘Command & Conquer: Rivals,’ is available in pre-alpha on the Play Store
Update 1: 2018/10/30 9:21am PDT Command & Conquer: Rivals launches worldwide December 4th Game news from E3 is in full swing, and just yesterday EA announced at its event in LA that the company was returning to an old franchise. Command & Conquer should be a familiar title for those of us that grew up playing PC games in the late 90's and 00's, and EA has just announced the first new game to bear the name since 2012. Command & Conquer: Rivals is an all-new PVP real-time strategy game designed for mobile, and it's already available in "pre-alpha" testing on the Play Store. The Command & Conquer series is probably one of the few EA didn't run into the ground. At least, not immediately. After it purchased the original developers, Westwood Studios, later entries were generally well received. Although it's hard to duplicate the success of Red Alert or Tiberian Sun, some of the games like Tiberium Wars and Red Alert 3 were regarded well by fans, though the very last … [Read more...] about [Update: Launching Dec. 4th] EA’s new free-to-play RTS, ‘Command & Conquer: Rivals,’ is available in pre-alpha on the Play Store
[Update: Listing restored] A DMCA failure: Play Store automated takedowns hit indie app ‘Always On Display AMOLED’
Update 1: 2018/10/19 9:05am PDT Google has reinstated the app to the Play Store. We're told by Rosenfeld the listing was returned after contacting Google via a link provided on Twitter, and not the official Google's history of providing support to Android developers that run into issues on the Play Store is pretty abysmal. If you have the clout of Facebook or Netflix, your whims are individually catered to, but independent developers get the short end of the automated-support stick. Yesterday, yet another indie Android app, Always On Display AMOLED, was kicked to the curb in what appears to be an overzealous, automated DMCA takedown, and in true Google fashion, the affected developer is left without recourse or a means for dispute. The app in question had garnered some 7 million downloads from the Play Store, and a description of its functionality is still live over at F-Droid, a popular open-source repository of Android apps and informal Play Store alternative. The … [Read more...] about [Update: Listing restored] A DMCA failure: Play Store automated takedowns hit indie app ‘Always On Display AMOLED’
A DMCA failure: Play Store automated takedowns hit indie app ‘Always On Display AMOLED’
Google's history of providing support to Android developers that run into issues on the Play Store is pretty abysmal. If you have the clout of Facebook or Netflix, your whims are individually catered to, but independent developers get the short end of the automated-support stick. Yesterday, yet another indie Android app, Always On Display AMOLED, was kicked to the curb in what appears to be an overzealous, automated DMCA takedown, and in true Google fashion, the affected developer is left without recourse or a means for dispute. The app in question had garnered some 7 million downloads from the Play Store, and a description of its functionality is still live over at F-Droid, a popular open-source repository of Android apps and informal Play Store alternative. The short version is that the app lets you keep additional info like notifications and time on your phone's AMOLED screen if it's equipped with one. Given that functionality, it's a bit unusual that a DMCA by Flipkart … [Read more...] about A DMCA failure: Play Store automated takedowns hit indie app ‘Always On Display AMOLED’
Microsoft and mobile: Can it stop shooting itself in the foot?
The Lumia 950 was Microsoft’s last flagship Windows-based smartphone. “Nah, it doesn’t have real multitasking, but it’s such a polished platform. Hopefully, the apps will come,” I told friends back in 2011 when I showed them my seeded Samsung Omnia 7, running Windows Phone 7. “Yeah, the platform doesn’t support Full HD screens or quad-core processors like Android, but the photos are phenomenal. And there are a few neat apps,” I told friends when showing them the Lumia 1020 review unit, running Windows Phone 8. “There are fewer apps, it has less polish, I still can’t turn off the phone when charging, and there’s a persistent bug in the camera app. I don’t love Windows Phone anymore,” I told industry peers months after buying the Lumia 950 with Windows 10 Mobile.I felt like one of the few people who saw potential and took a chance on Windows Phone, only to watch as the company gave up. I shouldn’t be … [Read more...] about Microsoft and mobile: Can it stop shooting itself in the foot?