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Your old Android phone is getting better about keeping you safe from barely-used apps
'Those permissions granted to you? Yeah, we're gonna need them back...'
Google is alerting app developers to some big coding changes ahead of the planned expansion of Android's permission auto-reset policy. This means more users will have permissions they've granted to apps automatically revoked starting in December. Here's what you need to know as a consumer.
Do you want to read your articles and do something else at the same time? Android technically lets you do this: it implemented multi-window support in Android 7.0, but apparently and for some reason, popular reading app Pocket hadn't added it yet. Now it's working.
You have to hand it to NVIDIA—it's kept the SHIELD Tablet updated for more than three years now. That's about three years longer than most Android tablets. Today, the SHIELD Tablet is getting the 5.3 upgrade, which includes a few little bug fixes along with one big fix for the KRACK vulnerability.
Xposed Framework was extremely popular in the KitKat and Lollipop days for heavy system modification, but until today, it lacked support for Android 7.0 Nougat. While the developer shared status updates every once in a while, progress was slow thanks to major changes in Nougat's app runtime. At long last, Xposed is finally available for Android 7.0 and 7.1 devices.
Google doesn't allow manufacturers to heavily customize Android TV, but that hasn't stopped some companies from delivering updates slowly (coughSonycough). Philips' smart TVs have been stuck on Marshmallow, but that appears to be changing. The company has now started rolling out Android 7.0 Nougat to its 2016 and 2017 smart TVs.
Carriers are notoriously slow to update their devices to newer versions of Android, and while this is not only annoying for users who want to try out new features, it also has implications for the security of devices. Until now, the Verizon HTC Desire 530 had been running Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow (released by Google in December 2015) with anything but up-to-date security patches. A new update has just been announced, and it does improve the situation, if only a little bit.
Another month, another update to the Google Developer dashboards. This time there's something new in the Android version stats, although it's a very, very small something. After the unsurprising no-show last month, Android 8.0 Oreo has made its first appearance this time with a grand total of 0.2% device share.
HTC isn't exactly known for speedy updates, but the company has been known to push them quickly in some cases. This is definitely not one of those cases, but it would seem to be more Verizon's fault than HTC's. Slightly over a year since the release of Android 7.0, the One M9 on Verizon is finally getting a Nougat update.
The BlackBerry Priv was an odd device for many reasons. It was the first Android phone from BlackBerry, it was a flagship device with a physical keyboard, and it was the last phone manufactured in-house by BlackBerry. But as many Priv owners have probably been expecting, it won't receive further updates.
Blu devices aren't having the best time lately, what with the whole privacy and alleged spyware story and their sad update track record that's left almost the entire lineup at Marshmallow. But the value for money proposition of Blu is still nice and for a non-geeky user, their devices might still carry a lot of appeal. Besides, the spyware snafu seems to be resolved now. So keep that more positive outlook in mind as I tell you about the new VIVO 8.As far as I can tell, this is Blu's first Nougat 7.0 device (I could have sworn one phone got an update to Nougat, but I can't find any info on that now). I'd say it's 'bout time, why isn't it even 7.1, and don't hold your breath for Oreo. Blu is boasting an 87.5% metal to body ratio, thanks to CNC polished aluminum on the back, minimal plastic, and a curved Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on the front.It has a 5.5" 1080p display, 13MP Sony IMX258 back camera and a 16MP front camera, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage plus MicroSD slot, and a MediaTek 6755 Helio P10 2.0GHz processor. There's a fingerprint sensor, "ultra quick" 9V/2A charging, and thankfully Blu didn't skimp on the battery like most brands and fitted this one with 4010mAh. Unfortunately, it charges with MicroUSB and not Type-C.The VIVO 8 is compatible with GSM networks and has 4G and HSDPA+ connectivity. It is already available for purchase in either black or gold, and it should retail for $299. However, now and for the first two days, you can get it for $199 on Amazon at the link below. That's not a bad price at all.Source: Blu, Amazon
The LG V10 was a pretty great phone when it was released. Not only did it have a secondary ticker display, but a removable battery and expandable storage too. The phone originally shipped with Android 5.1.1, but that was later updated to 6.0 Marshmallow. Now the T-Mobile LG V10 is getting a bump to 7.0.
Android O is on the horizon, but in the meantime, Samsung has continued to update its devices to Android 7.0 Nougat. Many of the company's phones and tablets have already received it, including some models of the Tab S2. Now, Android 7.0 has arrived on the AT&T Galaxy Tab S2..
For having the slogan, "Never settle," the OnePlus 2 has caused owners to settle for less quite often. The phone itself wasn't well-received, due to the lack of NFC connectivity and other problems. And despite initially promising Android 7.0 Nougat for the OP2, there have been no releases or further news, leaving owners annoyed to say the least.
Android 7.0 Nougat is still trickling out to various Samsung phones and tablets. T-Mobile updated its version of the Galaxy Tab S2 to Nougat just a few days ago, and now the Verizon model is getting the same treatment.
Last year, LG unveiled the LG K8 budget phone, alongside the less-powerful K5. As you might be able to tell from the name, the LG K8 V is the Verizon variant, and now Big Red is pushing an Android 7.0 Nougat update to it.
Considering many high-end phones never get major Android updates, it's always nice to see budget phones continue to be supported. This time around, AT&T's sub-$100 LG Phoenix 2 phone is getting Android 7.0 Nougat.
OTA updates are amazingly unpredictable. Sometimes, the US versions of devices get them first and international variants have to wait weeks and months, other times it's just the opposite. The latter is the case of the LG G5. My fiancé's unlocked model got the OTA around last December in Lebanon, but apparently the US unlocked version has been lingering on Marshmallow until now. That's a 6-month delay — whoa.
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- HTC has published the 4.27.502.7 RUU here (2.2GB download).
AT&T customers holding onto HTC's 2015 flagship should be happy to hear that the carrier's page for the phone has been changed with the details of an update to Android 7.0 Nougat, including instructions on how to pull down the OTA (version 4.27.502.7). Although we haven't seen any first-hand reports for the update on any devices yet, the mention of the OTA on the page would seem to imply that it should appear soon.
When the Honor 6X launched earlier this year, you could say that we here at AP were unimpressed. Sure, the phone packed in a lot of good specs for $250, but it shipped with Marshmallow, a version of Android that was over a year old at that point (well, it still is). In March, Huawei's sub-brand launched a beta program for 6X owners to try out Nougat and the much improved EMUI 5 — the company promised that Android 7.0 would roll out in the first half of 2017. Looks like that may actually happen.
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We got a tip earlier today from a user whose Sony Android TV gave him a message about an upcoming update. The message does not explicitly mention Nougat, but among the features listed are some that are exclusive to Android 7.0. Unfortunately, we don't know exactly when the update will hit, but the included information says that it is scheduled to begin after 05/2017.