Latest Articles
Do you or your kids need a new laptop to bring back to school? Nothing too fancy or heavy, just something that works? Take out a Benjamin, spend it on this Chromebook deal, and be done with it. You might have enough left over in change for a latte or three. Just be sure to put in your order by Tuesday.
The Android Police podcast remembers the Nexus Q and Google I/O 2012
'I'm Johnny Knoxville and this is Google Glass'
On this episode of the Android Police podcast, we look back a decade and remember what has to be one of the most exciting Google I/O conferences, bar none. Plus, we cover how you can opt out of T-Mobile selling your app usage data and strike up a conversation about Samsung's mobile accessories over some Starbucks.
LG: one of Korea's famed dynastic conglomerates and a globally known brand for durable goods and consumer electronics. It was pretty good at making phones for a time — people might most fondly remember the Chocolate from 2006, but the more obscure and dirt-cheap KP100 candybar from 2008 outgrossed it in sales. Then came the groovy 2010s: the company went nuts with freaky form factors, fancy accessories, and a gutsy urge to stretch the limits of what a slabby-looking thing could be and do. Sure, one thing wrong after the other ultimately led to the mobile division's demise in 2021, but I think its efforts have been maligned with a broad brush — much as I revere AP alum Ron Amadeo, his LG obituary for Ars Technica straight-up trashed the company at every turn. Now, I'm no fanboy, but I do want to exhume the company's body of work from the dumpster for a more balanced, maybe more romantic, but definitely personal eulogy.
Period-tracking apps face intense data privacy scrutiny in wake of Roe reversal
Some might be better off with a paper journal
There are many consequences to the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. In addition to relinquishing federal protections for the right to abortion, it also overturned a loosely-couched constitutional right to privacy as determined in Roe v. Wade. At the same time HR departments across the country scramble to figure out what to do, manufacturers of women's birth control, contraception, and fertility products are dealing with the challenges of protecting the privacy of their customers while maintaining advanced web-integrated features.
YouTube Music's new playlist UI hops over to albums on tablets
The streaming music app is cleaning itself up, bit by bit
One of Google's big promises from I/O 2022 in its campaign to make Android tablets relevant to start with was that it would be updating more than 20 of its own apps with user interfaces that were more friendly to large screens. We've seen a steady beat of such updates since then. Another one seems to be headed for YouTube Music users right about now, but don't call it an original.
This free app brings Pixels' Now Playing passive music recognition to your phone
Prop up your playlists with this handy little app, now with a no-root option!
Shazam and SoundHound are useful tools when you're out on the town and want to know what's on other peoples' soundtracks so that you can take those songs and, perhaps, boost your own playlists. Pixel phone owners do have it pretty good, though, because Now Playing makes that ability passive. If you're jealous, we've got a homebrew app that's come a long way for you to download and try out.
Here's how you might get suckered into installing government spyware
Your mobile internet shuts off, you're told to install an app, and now you've got spyware
Governments will spy. The matter of how they do it is up to them. Enter the commercial spyware market where law enforcement agencies have shopped around looking to get around smartphone encryption and incriminate more suspects. People are right to be worried, though, if they expect that their government is looking to crush dissent by maintaining a regime of comprehensive surveillance. This week, research groups have seemed to pick up on a particularly insidious piece of spyware that's made its way across several countries and can even utilize a sanctioned ISP kill-switch that essentially forces you to install it.
Google Analytics is losing track of millions of users as regulators ban the service
Austria, France, and now Italy are now telling webmasters to switch away
The European Union has been after Google for abuse of its monopoly power in mobile search engines and applications. Now, a growing number of countries in the union are going after the use of Google Analytics for violations against the General Data Protection Regulation.
After years of delay, Plex replaces its desktop media player client
Plex is looking to keep home theater techies satisfied
Read update
Mediaphiles have had years to cope with the imminent demise of the Plex Media Player. Plans were first announced in August of 2019, right when the Plex had also released its intended replacement, the Home Theater PC app. Outrage from the crowd stopped everything in its tracks for three years, but at last, Plex is now calling time of death for PMP. Long live HTPC.
Google tells employees they can 'relocate without justification' after Supreme Court ruling
With big legal decisions come complicated consequences
In the wake of the Supreme Court decision which overturned federal protections of abortion rights, institutions and employers are scrambling to respond with new policies that will support women in their organizations who are seeking to terminate their pregnancies, but live in a state that has banned abortions. Google is one of them.
Action Launcher v50 brings more premium features to all free users
In some regions, you might get every feature for free
Chris Lacy, developer of go-to Android home screen replacement Action Launcher, is celebrating the release of its 50th version with some substantive feature additions and a major shift in the app's business model that will give more premium features to every user, esepcially for those who nominally can't pay for them.
The Android Police podcast is still mad about the death of Inbox
What's the deal with Android Auto for phones and why are reminders and tasks different things?
There were about a dozen one-liners from the show I could've used to title this episode, but the Android Police podcast honestly doesn't take much writing to be this good. This week, we complain about ChromeOS, Google Tasks and Assistant-based reminders, and Android Auto for phones. Oh, we sprinkle in a little Pixel 7 and Nothing action at the end — gotta be at least a little informative, right? Join us.
Scammed out of thousands from your Venmo or Zelle account? Don't expect an easy refund
Banks are required to refund unauthorized app-based transfers, but many won't without a fight
There are plenty of peer-to-peer payment services out there, but if you're like most people in America, you're probably going to use either Venmo or Zelle. But if you've been extorted of your access to your online banking account, tough luck: there's a very good chance that even if you submit a police report and other evidence with your request for a refund of any unauthorized transactions, your bank will deny you.
Android 13's clipboard overlay will soon dedicate a button to Nearby Share
If you're always copying something from one device and pasting it on another, this might become a handy shortcut
Long known as Android Beam, Google has made Bluetooth-based local filesharing more of a priority for itself and more visible to users with its 2020 rebrand to Nearby Share. That visibility will be further increased with an upcoming feature push that will enable users to immediately go to Nearby Share right after they copy media.
Google pesters Apple to support RCS in iMessage by explaining Drake's 'Texts Go Green'
Did you need an explainer on what green texts are?
On Friday, Drake released his seventh studio album called "Honestly, Nevermind" which featured a track about someone who abandoned a relationship because their partner wasn't communicating their feelings in the right way. But with a name like "Texts Go Green," it didn't take much more for Google's social media team to pounce upon Apple and its iMessage platform, making the case that iPhones and other devices should support RCS messaging.
Android 13 will get official support for exFAT after years of development hell
A very subtle change allowed a Pixel 6 Pro to read an exFAT-formatted drive, but it took a lot to get there
Android 13 will bring about the ability for a Pixel device to handle files larger than 4GB in disk memory for the first time. But the story of how the exFAT file format came to be supported on the Pixel 6 is one that has come together, piece by piece, over a long period.
This handy multi-device security app is now free for anyone with a Microsoft 365 subscription
You can tie all of your devices into Microsoft Defender and stay alert on security threats
Microsoft Defender, the all-in-one security platform that lets enterprise users track malware threats for all of their devices, is expanding its target audience to outside of the business realm. Defender is now available for anyone with a personal or family Microsoft 365 subscription.
Google Assistant is giving answers and guidance about Juneteenth and Pride Month
Test your knowledge with LGBTQ+ trivia and listen to Black voices talk about liberation
Not only are we well into the swing of Pride Month, but we've got two days of celebration for Juneteenth this year — the actual holiday today and the federal holiday tomorrow. With all that's happening, you might have some questions about sexuality, gender, race, and being an ally. There are plenty of places to look for answers, but if you're looking for a place to start, Google Assistant wants to be it.
-1.JPG?q=50&fit=crop&w=430&h=300&dpr=1.5){kind=logo}
Maryland Apple Store workers form first union in the company
Apple is accused of dousing two other efforts in Georgia and New York
Employees at an Apple Store in Towson, Md., have voted to form a union, marking the first successful organized labor effort within the $2 trillion tech firm.
Lawmakers push Google to direct abortion seekers to the resources they're looking for
Democrats are wary of crisis pregnancy centers listed in search results for abortion clinics
One of the many touchstone issues that has defined the political divide in the United States is abortion. You may be aware of the Supreme Court's forthcoming reckoning over the federally-protected right of women to terminate their own pregnancy. Whatever the outcome, though, the decision won't stop women from seeking abortions in the states that permit it — that also means anti-abortion activists will be deploying strategies to prevent as many of them as possible. Now, lawmakers are urging online search behemoth Google to make sure it is directing women to the right places.