All about Android
- The Twilight Store (S1:E1)
https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:720/format:webp/1\*p3EwCZ49r2Xd2Qj\_1G2fKw.jpeg (How fun it is to publish apps on the Google Play store)
- arstechnica.com Google’s Pixel storage issue fix requires developer tools and a terminal
Automatic updates broke your phone; the fix is a highly technical manual process.
- What's New in WebGPU (Chrome 121) | Blog | Chrome for Developersdeveloper.chrome.com What's New in WebGPU (Chrome 121) | Blog | Chrome for Developers
Support WebGPU on Android, use of DXC for shader compilation, timestamp queries in compute and render passes, default entry points to shader modules, support display-p3 as GPUExternalTexture color space, memory heaps info, and more.
- www.engadget.com Google agrees to settle $5 billion lawsuit accusing it of tracking Incognito users
The 2020 lawsuit said Google was deceiving people into thinking that they could control the information they're willing to share.
- www.theverge.com Activision Blizzard had a plan — or ploy — to launch its own Android game store
Candy Crush would have been the gateway drug.
- Question: Android version 12 - Call sound audible in vibration and silence mode
Heya!
(I don't know can you post questions here - I didn't see it being against the rules in this magazine)
.
Can I set my phone to alert about any call even when the vibration or the silent mode is enabled? I looked into the settings but I didn't see ways to set it up like that. When I set either mode and try to slide the audio, it jumps back to Sound mode.
- arstechnica.com Android 14’s storage disaster gets patched, but your data might be gone
Google's "solution" can't do anything for bootlooping devices.
- arstechnica.com Google’s “Web Integrity” Android API could kill “alternative” media clients
Web Integrity pivots to Android, could permanently kill YouTube Vanced-style apps.
- One of the bigger changes to Android 14 is that Google is completely banning old app installs
But it is for security reasons - it is always about security reasons when old devices and now even old apps have to be thrown away.
- arstechnica.com Android 14 review: There’s always next year
Android 14 offers a lightly customizable lock screen and not much else.
Android 14 offers a lightly customizable lock screen and not much else.
(Does anybody care about Android 14? Currently, those who will end up with a bricked Pixel phone.)
- arstechnica.com Android 14’s user-profile data bug seems indistinguishable from ransomware
Users with multiple profiles are getting locked out of local storage and losing data.
Users with multiple profiles are getting locked out of local storage and losing data.
(It wouldn't shock me if they found out that this bug is related to all the changes Google has been making the last few years to prevent users and apps from being able to access their files in a normal way because it's trying to make Android a bad copy of iOS.)
- www.theverge.com Pixel 6 owners who use multiple profiles run into problems with Android 14
How’s the update working out for you?
YouTube Video
Click to view this content.
Pixel 8's 7 years of software updates is revolutionary... maybe
- www.theverge.com Google’s seven-year Pixel update promise is historic — or meaningless
Google picks who gets features.
- USB-C to headphone jack adapter disconnects easily while phone is in my pocket
It's really annoying, and stops the music I'm listening to.
My phone is a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, and it doesn't have a built in DAC (or at least it's disabled in the SoC firmware).
Addendum: it's not that it unplugs completely, but rather the USB DAC loses power and/or data connection.
- We are 3000 members!
The number of members is enough to create a healthy community without attracting spammers. What's missing now is more participation and post creation. Don't be shy, if you find an article that is about Android-or Google, since the two sometimes coincide-share it with the rest of us.
- arstechnica.com The Pixel Fold’s screen repair will cost $900
All the displays, cameras, batteries, and back plate are now for sale.
- arstechnica.com Google extends Chromebook support from 8 years to 10 after heightened backlash
Automatic Chromebook expiration dates still "fundamentally flawed," critics say.
- www.theverge.com Google won’t repair cracked Pixel Watch screens
No facilities, no parts, not covered by warranty.
- arstechnica.com Google gets its way, bakes a user-tracking ad platform directly into Chrome
Chrome now directly tracks users, generates a "topic" list it shares with advertisers.
- element.io Element X preview is now on Android too!
We’ve released an early edition of Element X in the Google Play Store.
- www.engadget.com Google tenatively settles with US antitrust probe into Play Store dominance | Engadget
Attorneys general and consumers from 37 states alleged that Google held an unfair monopoly on Android devices..
- [APP] Phone dialer Widget
I developed this app/widget a long time ago but it might still be useful to someone. It's free with no ads or other things.
The purpose of this widget is to make it easier for elderly people to make phone calls and read SMS.
There are various applications like this, but none were as simple and essential as I needed it, so I decided to create one. I share it in case it's useful to others.
Unlike other solutions this is a widget and not a launcher. The widget shows a dial panel, icons to show contacts and SMS and you can have buttons for a quick dial contact and device flashlight. You can configure the widget from the application.
It is recommended to use a launcher that allows you to remove any other item from the home page and that allows you to lock the home page so as to prevent the person using the phone from removing the widget. The Neo-Launcher home page lock is great and is what I currently recommend.
It needs Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) or newer.
Uses the following permissions:
- android.permission.CALL\_PHONE: to initiate a phone call. If you don't give this permission the application will open the default dialer app with the selected telephone number.
- android.permission.READ\_CONTACTS: to read the contacts to be displayed.
- android.permission.READ\_SMS: to read the SMS to be displayed.
- android.permission.CAMERA: to use the flashlight.
For devices using Android M and newer, the buttons and icons you see in the widget depend on the permissions given to the app. For Lollipop and older devices there are switches to decide what you see in the widget.
You can download it from https://easyjoin.net/index.html#otherapps. Here is the direct link for the apk: https://easyjoin.net/download/DialerWidget%201.3-6-release.apk
- www.theverge.com Google leaks Pixel 8 Pro again with a 360-degree preview
Fun fact: the phone has leaked 500 times this week.
- www.linkedin.com Don’t look up: Google’s meteor of incompetence will kill thousands of apps in four months
Google has an estimated 90% market share of the mobile ads market, and advertisements are Google’s main business, accounting for 80% of their revenue. Yet, their new policies for developers using their ad network will result in as much as a 40% drop in ad revenue.
Alternative title: Users will be able to hide ads in an app with just two clicks (I am an Android application developer and I really like this)
- www.theverge.com Google kills Pixel Pass without ever upgrading subscriber’s phones
You won’t use Pixel Pass to upgrade to a Pixel 8 in October.
- **Survey on Android App Testing Practices**
Survey on Android App Testing Practices
Dear Android Developers and Testers, We cordially invite you to a brief 8-minute survey focusing on Android App testing practices. Your insights will greatly enhance our understanding of industry standards and help highlight areas of challenge and opportunity. Rest assured, your responses will be kept confidential and anonymous. Your expertise is invaluable, and we deeply appreciate your contribution to our research. Thank you for your time and participation.
- arstechnica.com Fairphone 5 sets a new standard with 8-10 years of Android support
The Fairphone 5 will keep on trucking until at least 2031.
- www.engadget.com Benevolent hackers clear stalking spyware from 75,000 phones | Engadget
The WebDetetive breach compromised more than 76,000 devices, or more than 1.5 gigabytes of data freed from the server, according to the hackers.
- www.theverge.com The end of the Googleverse
The last 25 years of Google’s history can be boiled down to a battle against the Google bomb. Is the search engine finally losing to its hijackers?
- Questions and Answers: Digital Services Act > Impact on users
For the complete Q&A read this: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/QANDA\_20\_2348
New rights for users: At the same time, citizens will be able to notify illegal content, including products, that they encounter and contest the decisions made by online platforms when their content is removed: platforms are obliged to notify them of any decision taken, of the reason to take that decision and to provide for a mechanism to contest the decision.
More transparency on advertising: Users will also receive more information about ads they are seeing on online platforms – for example, if and why an ad targets them specifically. Platforms will no longer present behaviourally targeted ads for minors and will no longer present ads to their users based on profiling that rests on special categories of personal data, such as their ethnicity, political views or sexual orientation.
Clearer consequences: Users will be able to seek compensation from providers of intermediary services for any damage or loss suffered due to an infringement of the DSA by such provider.
How will you keep a fair balance with fundamental rights such as the freedom of expression?
The DSA puts protection of freedom of expression at its very core. This includes protection from government interference in people's freedom of expression and information. The horizontal rules against illegal content are carefully calibrated and accompanied by robust safeguards for freedom of expression and an effective right of redress – to avoid both under-removal and over-removal of content on grounds of illegality.
The DSA gives users the possibility to contest the decisions taken by the online platforms to remove their content, including when these decisions are based on platforms' terms and conditions. Users can complain directly to the platform, choose an out-of-court dispute settlement body or seek redress before Courts.
The Digital Services Act proposes rules on transparency of content moderation decisions. For very large platforms, users and consumers will be able to have a better understanding of the ways these platforms impact our societies and will be obliged to mitigate those risks, including as regards freedom of expression. They will be held accountable through independent auditing reports and specialised and public scrutiny.
All the obligations in the DSA, including the crisis response mechanism, are carefully calibrated to promote the respect of fundamental rights, such as freedom of expression.
How does the Digital Services Act address dark patterns?
Under new rules, dark patterns are prohibited. Providers of online platforms will be required not to design, organise or operate their online interfaces in a way that deceives, manipulates or otherwise materially distorts or impairs the ability of users of their services to make free and informed decisions.
The ban complements, but does not overwrite the prohibitions already established under consumer protection and data protection rules, where a large numbers of dark patterns that mislead consumers are already banned in the EU.
- The z flip 5 seems to support hdmi out!
Currently typing this on my flip 5 connected to an external display via hdmi. This didn't work on the previous generations. Only on the fold. There is no toggle for dex which is exceptionally dissapointing. Does anyone know if you can launch it via adb?
- www.theverge.com Google’s Reading Mode app for Android can save you from the worst of web design
Wow, the web is readable again.
Anyone given this a go? Pretty keen to see how well this one works
- Rooting android 7.1.1 December 2017 security update without bootloader unlock
Hello, I am trying to temp-root my Motorola DROID MAXX 2, and I can not unlock the bootloader. I want to temp root so I can overwrite the bootloader with my own, unlockable version. Does anyone know of a temp root that would work? I have already tried dirtycow, RockMyMoto, and PwnMyMoto.
- Please help me choose a phone
Hi there! I simply don't know, which phone to buy, so I'm hoping to get some help..
First of all, I currently own a OnePlus 7T, which I've been very happy with. Recently though it's begun to act in mysterious ways, which is the reason, I'm now looking to buy a new phone.
Regarding what I'm looking for in a phone, I like a decent camera, good battery capacity and charging speeds. Furthermore, I prefer to buy new and recently released phones, even though they're more expensive. I know it is often recommended to buy used phones or last gen phones, but I really like to have my phone supported for the longest time.
Regarding my own research, I first looked at the new OnePlus Nord 3, which looks great. I do however think the camera could be better (though the main sensor seems good). That also lead to to look at the OnePlus 11. It seems like a fine phone, but I'm questioning whether it's price is worth it. I do want to mention however, that I love the notification slider on my OP7T, which is also present on the Nord 3 and OP11.
Afterwards, I was looking at the presumably upcoming Pixel 8 (probably the pro). It seems to tick most of the boxes, only running short in regards to the charging speed, which I feel is a big drawback. I habe also heard about numerously bugs and glitches regarding the pixel 7, and is slowly loosing my trust in Google's ability to make phones. I do use a lot of Google services however, which would fit in nicely with the pixel.
Lastly, I've been looking at the Samsung S23+. It seems like a fine phone, and my only real drawback is that it's expensive. Furthermore I don't know if I love OneUi but I also don't know that I don't love it. I won't wait for the S24 however, as that seems to be too long in the future.
I hope someone will help me decide. It doesn't have to be any of those phones, and I'm more than willing to hear more pros and cons regarding different phones.
(Lastly, I'm based in Denmark)
- Android 14 Beta 3 has a neat trick to make Battery Saver more efficient
Android 14 Beta 3 has a dark way to improve your battery life
- 9to5google.com Google Pixel 8 camera leak details new main sensor, Pro-only upgrades, more
The camera has always been the best feature of Google’s Pixel smartphones, and according to a detailed new leak, the...