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Pushbullet's Facebook integration is somehow still broken weeks later, but there are workarounds
No word yet on a permanent solution
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Facebook blocked Pushbullet from using its proprietary login at the start of the month, and it seems as there's no end in sight for that ban. Despite public outcry from users, nothing has been changed with the social network to bring the two parties back together. If you're still having issues getting into your account, Pushbullet has published a list of ways to continue using its service without a Facebook login.
Here at Android Police, we live and breathe in our desktop browsers. Almost everything we do from writing, researching, and communicating happens within the confines of our computer screens (or on our phones, naturally). Over the years, we found quite a few ways to make our lives easier with extensions, both for our jobs and our personal lives. For this collection, we want to share all of the extensions with you that help us manage our lives and our workday.
Pushbullet's Chrome extension approved after nebulous Chrome Web Store policy violations
Google couldn't decide what was wrong with Pushbullet's extension
We haven't heard a lot from Pushbullet lately, but it's still out there mirroring notifications and flinging data between devices. It almost had to stop, though. Google threatened to remove the Pushbullet extension from the Chrome Web Store, but it didn't explain why. As a result, the developers had to scramble to address Google's concerns... whatever those were. After a little helpful prodding, Google has accepted Pushbullet's updated extension.
After more than two years without a major update, Pushbullet rose from the dead last month with a ton of new features. The app received a new bottom navigation bar, adaptive icon support, and a dark mode (if you have Pushbullet Pro). Another update has now arrived, with even more long-requested features.
Pushbullet was one of the first apps that successfully made your Android notifications more accessible and useful. With Pushbullet, you can sync notifications to other devices, reply to messages on your PC, and so much more. Development of the app slowed down over the last couple of years, but Pushbullet comes roaring back today with a major update. There are various design changes based on material theming, easier navigation, new icons, and more.
One of the many issues with Google's latest messaging app, Allo, is the total lack of a desktop application. Picking up my phone to respond to a message, when I'm already at my computer with a physical keyboard, seems silly. Allo 2.0, released yesterday, added the ability to quick reply from the notifications. Today's Pushbullet update taps into the quick reply functionality to add Allo support.
Pushbullet, despite some unpopular pricing changes, still remains one of my favorite Android applications. I use it every day on multiple devices, but Mac owners haven't been lucky enough to receive an official client. Your only choices until recently have been to use the Chrome extension (which requires Chrome to always run in the background) or a paid third-party client called PushPal.
There was a bit of a dust-up the other day when Pushbullet began sending out some scary-sounding emails to users. The emails explained that a few services making very heavy use of the Pushbullet API were going to be blocked. Today, Pushbullet has decided to change its approach to coping with this problem after getting feedback form users. Nothing will be blocked, but there will be a new API push limit for free accounts.
Join, by joaomgcd of many Tasker plugins and automation apps fame, has been in beta for nearly two months now. When I tried it out at launch, it already had a lot of its functionality covered, allowing your phones and computers to share things with each other: links, SMS messages, screenshots, media files, copied text, and more. The app has been getting frequent updates since then, adding Tasker integration and making it possible to send SMS from any browser without the need for a Chrome extension. You could say that Pushbullet's little brother has grown up to actually compete against it.
When Pushbullet introduced its pro plan, some folks walked away upset. For some of them, Join from Tasker-plugin maker extraordinaire Joaomgcd was just the ticket. The service doesn't quite stack up feature per feature, but it does a decent job of handling the basics.
Pushbullet began as a quick way to send files, links, and other data from one device to another. Along the way, the team took the infrastructure it had in place and introduced instant messaging (through a phone using SMS). Last month the feature grew to include group conversations. Today, the service has evolved to support sending picture messages.
Pushbullet added two small, but useful, new features this morning. First, replying to group SMS from a computer or tablet is now (finally) supported. In a small gesture of holiday goodwill, Pushbullet won't count group SMS messages against the 100 message limit for non-paying users for the rest of the month.
Chrome to Phone used to be a nice way to receive links, directions, and notes from your Chrome browser on your Android device. The app's functionality was however rendered redundant after Chrome gained open tab sync across devices and Google added a way to send notes and directions (and reminders and alarms) from Chrome to your phone.
Pushbullet is rolling out the first big feature addition since the announcement of the pro plan, and it seems rather cool. Remote Files lets you connect to any of your Pushbullet devices and download files from anywhere at any time. Everyone can use the feature, but pro users get more functionality.
Around the Android corners, joaomgcd is known for his automation tools, most of which rely on heavy Tasker integration and require a level of tinkering that most of us lazy people can't bother with. So when Joao released his new app Join and the featureset seemed to closely mirror Pushbullet's upon close inspection, I was intrigued. Not just because of Pushbullet's latest switch to Pro plans, but because the main selling point of the service was its simplicity. That has not been Joao's strong suit — at least through a newbie's eyes, his apps always seemed a little too overwhelming.
The reaction to Pushbullet's pro plan earlier this week was not what the developers had hoped for. Many users cited the $5 monthly price and removal of some free features as justification to declare Pushbullet literally satan. Pushbullet's developers have always been active in the community, so Ryan from Pushbullet (guzba on Reddit) is doing an AMA to explain.
We here at Android Police have a thing for Pushbullet. You could even call it a crush. Not everyone on the team uses it, but we and many of our readers agree that it's a solid service. You get to send text, links, images, and notifications from one device to another with minimal effort.
Pushbullet is all about sharing, version 17 seems a natural progression. You now have the option to insert Pushbullet targets into Android's share menu. Don't just send a file to Pushbullet—send it to a specific phone, tablet, or PC. This is through implementation of Android 6.0's Direct Share feature, which lets apps provide their own share options. In a future update, the developers want to prioritize whichever devices serve as frequent recipients.
The internet does not thrive on peace and understanding. It's a place where a small issue can quickly become the flash point for a mob armed with pitchforks and torches, ready to storm the castle and kill the monster. Today's monster was Pushbullet, that wonderful terrible app that connects your devices steals your data for nefarious purposes. Put the pitchforks down, though. The un-deletable photos were a bug, and it's fixed now.
You can't deny that Pushbullet is insanely useful, and it gets more so with each update. However, Pushbullet does see a lot of your data in plain text, and there's been growing demand for better security. As of today, Pushbullet supports end-to-end encryption for SMS, notification mirroring, and universal copy-paste.