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Google Maps is ditching cloud-based location history for a more private solution
Your location history will be stored locally on your device going forward, but you can still opt for an end-to-end-encrypted backup
It's no secret that Google Maps keeps tabs on your every move with its Timeline feature, which logs all your pit stops and the routes you take. As long as you're signed in to your Google account with Location History enabled (it's off by default), Google collects all this juicy information and secures it in the cloud, promising it's encrypted. But if you're the paranoid type, the company will soon give you the option to stash your trips directly on your device.
Spotify now has an option to sign up with Google, but you shouldn't use it
The functionality isn't fully baked yet
Spotify has offered deep integration with Facebook for years, including an option to log in with a Facebook account. The service added an Apple ID login option recently (to comply with new iOS policies), and now Spotify is rolling out an option to create an account through Google.
Google Play Music is on the way out but YouTube Music still isn't available for kids under 13
You might have to switch to another service if kids account support is important to you
A year and a half ago, we warned that you shouldn't migrate your family subscription to YouTube Music if you want to keep your Play Music child accounts intact. With the shutdown of Play Music inching closer, the situation has changed a little, but the core of the problem is still present: According to YouTube's terms, children under the age of 13 aren't allowed to use the service officially — only YouTube Kids is open to them. Thus, young minors won't be able to stream once Google shuts down Play Music.
Last year, a fresh new look for the Google Account page buried in Settings on most Android phones rolled out, bringing with it a new centered layout and updated fonts. More recently, we've received a few reports that the even more basic "Google" section in Settings is being updated to match it. Although we don't all see the new design, it appears to be in testing or rolling out as we speak.
Slowly but surely, all of Google's products are being updated to the latest evolution of its Material Design theme. The whiter, more rounded look came to the Google Account settings on Android back in the summer, and now it's now arrived at myaccount.google.com on the web.
As part of the 2-step verification settings on your Google Account, there's an option to sign in via a simple 'yes' or 'no' prompt on your phone. This allows you to kick out anyone who's trying to sign in as you while also making it easy to sign in yourself. There's now an additional toggle to enable this on all phones you're currently signed in to.
After Fitbit purchased Pebble and killed off its future products, many customers were left wondering how long they had left until their watches became unusable. Putting those fears to rest, Pebble has released an update for its iOS and Android apps, ensuring the watches will continue to work for the foreseeable future.
A few days ago, we wrote about Google's new My Account interface, which had its material design debut coinciding with Google I/O. The new interface makes checking and adjusting your security and privacy settings both beautiful and easy.
We're naturally big fans of Google here at Android Police. But living in Google's world as we do, it's easy for us to see the flaws in the enormous company, and it's also our duty to point them out. One of the biggest problems with Google is that it's often terrible at providing customer service to its hundreds of millions of active users. So it is with the first major problem to pop up for Music Key, YouTube's new music subscription service.
Something I loved after signing up with Simple Bank was that the app offered super quick account access - once you signed in with a pass phrase, you needed only to enter a PIN to get to your account. It seems that Chase has (at last) found a way to provide at least a quick glimpse into your account.
Mankind loves to obsess over numbers, statistics, and data. Ok, maybe not everybody is stuck on tracking every last thing that happens; but if you're reading this site, there's a good chance you're already checking your monthly activity reports each time Google fires off an email reminder. That addiction to numbers is about to get much more interesting. Google is merging the monthly activity report with Dashboard to produce a super-sized page full of facts and stats about how you're using Google's services.
The developers at CyanogenMod never seem to sleep these days. After publishing the first Android 4.3 nightlies a few weeks ago, the long-promised CyanogenMod Accounts feature is being enabled on new builds starting tonight. This adds an option for an official CyanogenMod account in the Accounts section of the Settings page (right next to Google, Facebook, Dropbox, et cetera). Users can create a new CyanogenMod account right from their phones or tablets and access it from the official Account page on the CyangenMod website.
Deal Alert: Sprint's LG Optimus G Now $0.01 With New Account, $29.99 With Upgrade From Amazon Wireless
Just over two weeks before LG's likely Optimus G2 announcement, Sprint's variant of the Optimus G's received another price drop. Amazon Wireless is now
Just over two weeks before LG's likely Optimus G2 announcement, Sprint's variant of the Optimus G's received another price drop. Amazon Wireless is now offering the Nexus 4's manufacturer-skinned cousin for just a penny with a new account, and just $30 on upgrade or when adding a new line.
Deal Alert: Get Verizon's Galaxy Note II For $79.99 With New Account From Amazon Wireless, Sprint's For $49.99
It's been a little while since we last saw a nice deal on Samsung's Galaxy Note II. If you're still lusting after Samsung's latest (for now) and greatest
It's been a little while since we last saw a nice deal on Samsung's Galaxy Note II. If you're still lusting after Samsung's latest (for now) and greatest phablet creation, but haven't convinced yourself to shell out the requisite cash, listen up â both the Verizon and Sprint-bound variants are enjoying a nice price slashing.
We don't often cover Kickstarter campaigns – after all, the platform is flooded with entries that may not be worth mentioning, or are dead on arrival. Sometimes, though, a gadget comes through that exceeds expectations, and the myIDkey is one of those.
Amazon's AWS (Amazon Web Services) is a hugely important web service that is responsible for much of Amazon's functionality, and plenty of content you look at every day (remember that time Reddit, Flipboard, Netflix, and others simultaneously stuttered in part of the US?). Looking to keep AWS account holders connected to their services and abreast of service health while on the go, Amazon released its official AWS Console app to the Play Store today.
It seems like the Android world is getting a ton of extra tablet love in the past few months. Today, Skype joined the party by finally introducing an optimized UI for those of you with a little more screen to love. While the new look is nice, it bizarrely forces your slate into landscape mode. Even on the Nexus 7, you have no choice but to use the wider layout. This probably isn't a bad thing, since it looks great in this mode, and might seem cramped otherwise. Still, this is the only app outside of games we've seen do this, so it's a little jarring. Unless you're on a 10" device that already defaults to landscape mode, in which case you probably won't notice much.
Beautiful accounting software. There are three words in the realm of things I thought I'd never combine into one sentence, yet here I am. This is the exact claim made by Xero, the creator of - you guessed it - accounting software of the same name. As far as this type of application is concerned, though, I have to say I agree - it is pretty.
This morning, Google Drive finally launched, and for about 30 minutes the pricing structure inconsistencies had me scratching my head. The blog post mentioned a new pricing scheme, with "25GB for $2.49/month, 100GB for $4.99/month or even 1TB for $49.99/month" and yet the storage upgrade page continued to list old prices - +20GB for $5 a year, and so on, which was much cheaper than the new offerings.
Google's data collection policies have been the subject of intense debate lately. From consolidating its privacy policies into one big document, to using personal Google+ info to power search results, Google and data have been making plenty of headlines. If it makes you feel any better, though, Google's totally willing to share that data with you! Enter Google's new Account Activity Feature.The service is opt-in and gives users a monthly report of their account usage.