You are here

Topic: Android

In Android 14, when you long-press an icon, you'll see app shortcuts, along with App info, Pause app, and Widgets News 

Say Goodbye to Long-Press Notifications: Android 14 Has Arrived!

Febin Mathew,

The American technology giant Google has removed from the latest Android 14 update the ability to preview notifications by long pressing the app icons on the home screen. This feature, which allows users to quickly check notifications without unlocking their devices, is no longer available. Previously, you could check app notifications by long-pressing an app icon on the home screen or in the app drawer. If there were several notifications, only the first one is displayed in its entirety with the number of notifications. Users had the option to open…

Read More
Sunbird has pulled its iMessage for Android app because of concerns about its alleged untrue claims about the app's privacy and security features. News 

Sunbird Pulls the Plug on Android iMessage App After Security Risks Revealed

Adarsh V.K,

It looks like the sun has set on Sunbird, an app that allows Android users to access Apple’s iMessage functionality on Android devices. Accused of serious data protection and information security deficiencies, the developers of the application have decided to cancel the application temporarily. As reported by 9to5Google , Sunbird sent a message to its users saying that the team has “decided to temporarily suspend use of Sunbird” as it investigates “security concerns.” This comes after the app was accused of falsely claiming that messages sent on the platform were…

Read More
Know whether the fight over blue and green message bubbles will come to an end as Apple announces support for RCS in 2024. (Google) News 

Unhappy News: Apple Unveils Unappealing Color for RCS Bubbles on iPhones

Adriana Marais, ,

Throughout 2023, Google consistently made subtle requests to Apple during their major events, urging them to back their RCS messages. RCS chat is viewed as the next evolution of carrier-supported messaging, replacing SMS. After numerous hints and gestures towards Apple, the tech giant based in Cupertino has finally declared that iPhones will support RCS starting in 2024. However, there is a condition. Google’s pleas to Apple also included a desire to eliminate the distinction between green and blue bubbles, which indicate whether the sender is using an iPhone or an…

Read More
You can find your device's Android version number, security update level, and Google Play system level in your Settings app. News 

Android Users in India: Don’t Risk It – Take Action Now to Secure Your Device!

Adarsh V.K

Experts from the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN) have found several vulnerabilities in Android operating systems, including versions 11, 12,12L, 13 and 14. This widespread issue means that many Android devices may be affected. According to the Cyber Security Agency under India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), several new high-risk vulnerabilities can be exploited by an attacker to obtain sensitive information, gain elevated privileges and cause a denial of service on a targeted system. “These vulnerabilities exist in Android due to flaws in the framework, system, Google…

Read More
Apple has resisted the push to bring iMessage to other platforms but EU could have other ideas and that could make it finally happen. News 

Why Apple May Have To Let iMessage Work On Android Devices: Here’s The Scoop!

Adriana Marais, ,

Apple’s problems continue to pile up, and once again Google is trying its best to get the iPhone maker to open up its product to other platforms. iMessage is one of those features that Apple has kept exclusive to iPhones, mostly because the company feels more in control of the app and its user experience. The same could be said for the App Store, where you can’t download apps from the page, but Android users can, albeit with security concerns. Google has even tried to drive Apple public with its…

Read More
OTP messages can clog up your message inbox and cause a lot of frustration, but the fix is quite easy using Google Messages. Here's how you do it. News 

Say Goodbye To Annoying OTPs: Here’s How To Automatically Delete Them!

Jim Hendler, ,

OTPs are something we come across every day and are essential in our daily lives – especially now that we depend on them for payment transactions, logging into services and even authenticating our national identities like Aadhar cards. However, these OTP messages can clog your inbox and cause a lot of frustration. Not to mention the time it took to select only OTP SMS and delete them later. Fortunately, if you use Google Messages as your default Android messaging app, this problem can be mitigated quite easily by enabling a…

Read More
Amazon has used Android as the base platform for all its devices so far but now that could change for the company. News 

Say Goodbye to Android: Amazon’s Fire TV Stick is Moving On!

Jim Hendler, ,

Amazon could end its run on Android for devices like the Fire TV Stick and switch to its own operating system called Vega OS, according to reports this week. As you may be aware, the company has been using a forked version of the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) on its Fire TV Stick and Fire tablets. But now it seems willing to move in-house to a new platform that will eventually cover all Amazon products. The company had a big AI event recently, but we didn’t hear anything about…

Read More
Firefox announces big update for Android smartphones. Know details. (Unsplash) News 

200 New Extensions for Android – Get Firefox-y Now!

Adriana Marais

Mozilla Firefox, commonly referred to as Firefox, is a highly favored internet browser. Since its introduction in 2002, it has remained a formidable competitor to other browsers like Google Chrome, Brave, and Microsoft Edge. Firefox is renowned for its strong emphasis on privacy, providing users with various features including ad blocker extensions, Facebook containers, tracking protection, and more. The web browser also supports numerous extensions that users can take advantage of. However, it only works on the desktop version of Firefox, but that should change soon. Firefox get extensions Firefox…

Read More
Apple was almost ready with the support for Apple Watch but it decided against the roll out which would have changed the history. Gadgets 

Apple Cancelled Android Compatibility for Apple Watch: Reasons Explained

Adriana Marais, , ,

Apple wanted to make the Apple Watch compatible with Android phones. That’s right, the company’s popular wearable could have worked with Android, but for some reason, Apple decided not to go ahead with the plan. In fact, a Bloomberg report this week suggests that Apple had pulled the plug on that support at the last minute. Bringing the Apple Watch to Android would have opened up a whole new market for the company, where you have billions of smartphones. So why did Apple cancel its plans to make the Apple…

Read More
Google will alert users if the sideloaded app poses any threat for their device and block its access to the phone before it causes any damage. News 

Google to Check Sideloaded Apps on Android Before Installation

Adriana Marais,

Google has been extremely strict about sideloading apps on Android phones, even though users have the freedom to do so. Over the years, the company has warned of adverse effects that could be caused by sideloading apps that could be malware in disguise. But that attitude is changing now that Google is ready to help people determine if the apps they download have red flags and should be removed or can be used without any problems. Google uses the existing Play Protect app to monitor and find these side-loaded apps…

Read More
This feature builds on the wheelchair-accessible transit navigation option in Maps that shows people step-free transit routes. News 

Google Launches Accessibility Features For Maps, Search And Chrome

Adriana Marais,

Google has released new accessibility features and updates to Maps, Search and Chrome to help people complete everyday tasks faster and easier. The new disabled community identity attribute is now available in Google Maps and Hau. It gives customers more information about the company and merchants can identify themselves as members of the community. “This update builds on our existing business properties, including Asian-owned, Black-owned, Latino-owned, LGBTQ+-owned, Veteran-owned, and Women-owned,” said Eve Andersson, Google’s senior director of Products for All. Lens in Maps (formerly Search with Live View) uses artificial…

Read More
Xiaomi is going to replace its long-running MIUI OS with a new platform called HyperOS. Here's what we know so far. News 

Xiaomi CEO Confirms Replacement of MIUI With ‘HyperOS’, Here’s What Could Be Different

Sanjay Patil,

Earlier this month, rumors surfaced suggesting that Xiaomi could eventually replace its MIUI Android operating system with a new and redesigned operating system. Well, it turns out that the speculation was correct as the company has announced the launch of a new operating system called Xiaomi HyperOS; and it is set to debut with the Xiaomi 14 series. Lei Jun, Xiaomi’s founder and CEO, confirmed the development on X (formerly Twitter). “Today is a historic moment. After years of working together, our new operating system, Xiaomi HyperOS, will make its…

Read More
Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code, gain elevated privileges, gain access to sensitive information and cause denial of service condition on the targeted system. News 

Indian Government Alerts Android Users of Potential Security Threat

Adarsh V.K

Indian cyber agency Computer Emergency Response Team in India (CERT-In) has found several vulnerabilities in Android operating systems including versions 11, 12.5.12L and 13. According to CERT-In’s cyber experts, these vulnerabilities pose a serious threat as malicious attackers can potentially exploit them to execute arbitrary code, gain additional privileges, access sensitive data, and even cause a Denial of Service (DoS) condition on targeted targets. equipment. The CERT-In vulnerability note says: “These vulnerabilities exist in the Android operating system due to bugs in the framework, system, Google Play system updates, Arm…

Read More
Apple has been time and again been at the receiving end for not implementing RCS in iMessage, and Samsung is the latest company to call it out. News 

Samsung Criticizes Apple For Not Utilizing RCS For iMessage: Here’s What You Need To Know

Adriana Marais, ,

As popular as Apple’s iMessage feature is, it’s criticized equally by brands and users at the other end of the chain – users with green bubbles (Android). This criticism arises because the brand has failed to implement the RCS communication standard, which unnecessarily separates Android and iOS users when texting. Now, Samsung has joined brands like Google in calling out Apple for the same thing. It posted a funny short video titled “Green bubbles and blue bubbles want to be together.” The video shows a conversation between the two parties…

Read More
The new earthquake alert system from Google works on Android phones in India notifying them whenever there are tremors. Space 

Reasons Behind Android’s Earthquake Alert System Failure in India

Adarsh V.K,

Tuesday’s big earthquake was the perfect way to test the new Android earthquake alert system in India this week. The incident was reported in Nepal at around 14:51 IST and ideally the alarm should have beeped but no one got the notification on their Android phone. So why didn’t Google warn users about the earthquake today? This is because the alert system is not supported in India as of now, although Google officially shared an update about its availability in the country last week. You can access the earthquake alert…

Read More
The Android Earthquake Alerts System has been made available to all Android users in India with Android version 5 and higher. Space 

A Step-by-Step Guide to Setting Up Google Earthquake Alerts on Your Smartphone

Adriana Marais,

US tech giant Google recently launched Android Earthquake Alerts on Android smartphones in India. This system is already operational in many countries around the world and provides early earthquake warnings to people when the tremors begin. “Our alerts are easy to read and follow, and available in Indian languages supported by Android. With this release, we aim to provide Android users with automatic early warning notifications when an earthquake occurs in their area,” Google wrote in a blog post. Earthquakes are one of the most common natural disasters in the…

Read More
Attorneys general and consumers from 37 states alleged that Google held an unfair monopoly on Android devices. Gaming 

US Antitrust Investigation of Google’s Play Store Dominance Concludes with Tentative Settlement

Adriana Marais, , , ,

Google has reached a preliminary agreement with a group of attorneys general who filed a lawsuit in 2021 accusing the company of abusing its control over Android app distribution through the Google Play store. The officials alleged that Google was using its monopoly power to unlawfully maintain its dominance, citing that 90 percent of app sales occurred through Google Play. Bloomberg has reported that the case has been referred to a judge who, if satisfied, can approve the settlement and dismiss the ongoing legal battle. This is a strategic move…

Read More
Google is changing the Android logo again in 2023 to "better represent" the Android community. Here's what you can expect from Android's branding moving forward. News 

Google Gives Android Logo and Bugdroid a Makeover to ‘Complement’ Brand

Adriana Marais, ,

Google’s Android operating system is famous for its quirky marketing and iconic green bugdroid robot. The operating system’s branding has changed a few times over the years, and will change again in 2023 to “better” represent the Android community. Google says that the Android brand has been updated a few times to modernize the look and feel. In 2019, they simplified the Android wordmark and got rid of desert naming conventions like Android Lollipop and Oreo. “Every time we renew our brand, we evaluate not only changing needs but also…

Read More
Google's quarterly feature drop brings useful accessibility features and more to Android. News 

Android Logo Gets a Makeover with 3D Bugdroid

Adriana Marais,

The release of Android 14 is just around the corner, but before Google unveils the highly anticipated mobile operating system alongside its newest Pixel devices, the company has unveiled an updated Android logo. Jason Fournier, director of consumer brand management at Android, wrote in a blog post that the company wanted the bugdroid to “look as dynamic as Android itself.” By revamping the look of the mascot’s entire body, we hope to make it easier for the bugdroid to look consistent in both digital and real environments. The updated bugdroid…

Read More
September will be a busy month for smartphone launches as we will see a slew of new releases—ranging from the new iPhone 15 models to new value flagships like Honor 90. News 

September Set To Be A Bustling Month For Smartphone Releases Including iPhone 15 and Honor 90

Sanjay Patil, , ,

September, commonly referred to as “Tekku” by the tech community on the internet, is typically a month full of new smartphones, led by the likes of new iPhones every year. This year seems to be no exception, with several new releases per month – from the new iPhone 15 models to new flagships like the Honor 90. After releases seen in August, such as Samsung’s flagship Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Flip 5, September begins with the release of the iPhone 15 models on September 12. Now let’s take a…

Read More