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google account

How to back up all of your Google account data
Losing your phone is a painful experience but you needn’t lose all your data along with it if you’ve taken the right precautions

Henry Burrell2020/06/28
8:20am PDTJun 28, 2020

If you live in the West and use an Android phone then you’re more than likely entrenched in Google’s services. You live your mobile life in Gmail, sort your pictures in Google Photos, write your to-do lists in Keep and balance your books in Sheets.

If you’re fully in on Google (and you may well be without realizing) then you can save documents and access them across other devices with Drive, record your steps and workouts in Fit, and have Gboard remember that no, you never mean to type ‘ducking’.

Thanks to the modern smarts of Android your phone ensures that a lot of your Google account data is backed up automatically.

How to use multiple Google accounts on a Chromebook
There are two methods, both with pros and cons

Manuel Vonau2020/06/20
9:52am PDTJun 20, 2020

This story was originally published 2020/06/16
5:00am PDTon Jun 16, 2020 and last updated 2020/06/20
9:52am PDTon Jun 20, 2020.

A lot of us have to juggle more than one Google account these days, be it for work, school, or personal stuff. On Chrome OS, where user profiles are intertwined with Google accounts, managing those can feel overwhelming, especially since there are multiple ways to tackle the problem: You can create two users for two accounts, add two Google accounts to one user, or build a combination of the two. There are advantages and disadvantages to all of these solutions, so let's dive into what you need to consider for your setup.

10 things to do when setting up a parent or child's Android phone
Helping to lay the groundwork for a great Android experience

Henry Burrell2020/05/17
9:20am PDTMay 17, 2020

This story was originally published 2020/05/02
5:30am PDTon May 2, 2020 and last updated 2020/05/17
9:20am PDTon May 17, 2020.

When setting up a phone for someone who's not especially tech-savvy (or simply doesn't care to learn about their phone), Android offers a nice amount of flexibility in terms of what you do or don't have to do. But just because the flexibility is there doesn't mean there aren't a few highly advisable, if technically totally optional, steps you can take to make that phone (and potentially the person using it) a lot less annoying. Here are 10 things we think will make any beginner's experience on an Android smartphone less frustrating, both for them and the person tasked with setting them up.

2FA security keys for your Google account can now be set up from Android devices
Also MacOS devices using Safari

Ryne Hager2020/03/06
3:30pm PSTMar 6, 2020

Most of us value our security, even if we might be a bit too lazy to make every single account as safe as it can/should be, and that's the problem. It's hard to get all your accounts set up with stuff like two-factor authentication/2FA between all the different methods and the fact that you can't even set it up for all your accounts from every platform. Google just eliminated at least one barrier with a change today, though, as the company is now allowing you to enroll security keys from Android using Chrome, as well as macOS devices running Safari.

Weekend poll: Do you use two-factor authentication to secure your Google account?

Ryne Hager2020/01/19
10:18am PSTJan 19, 2020

Polls

Our digital security is tremendously important. With all the information stored online, and the necessity that the internet imposes on modern life, we must keep our most important accounts secure. One of the best ways to do that is via two-factor authentication, augmenting a password with a second identity challenge. With Android being the usual subject in these parts, and a Google account being a requirement to use Android to its utmost, do you have two-factor security set up on your primary Google account?

Google takes first steps to support both Fi and Voice on a single account

Ryne Hager2020/01/16
12:13pm PSTJan 16, 2020

Google has silently taken the first step in disentangling Google Fi from Google Voice, with the stated goal of supporting both on a single Google account. Late last year, the company revealed that it was changing how Fi would store voicemails, separating them from Google Voice, but keeping them accessible otherwise in all the same locations as before.

Google account switcher for web gets new material design treatment

Karandeep Singh2019/11/01
7:30am PDTNov 1, 2019

Every piece of software that Google makes is being reworked to get design uniformity across the board under the new material guidelines. Then why should the poor account switcher be left behind? The Google account switcher on the web is undergoing a redesign after its mobile counterpart got switching gestures and direct access to account settings.

Redesigned 'Google' section in Settings spotted, matches Google Account changes from last year

Ryne Hager2019/10/03
10:54am PDTOct 3, 2019

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.

Chrome OS 76 released to stable with Android-style media controls, virtual desktop support, and more

Ryne Hager2019/08/14
7:41am PDTAug 14, 2019

Update
Google didn't announce it, but some camera tweaks are also included in Chrome OS 76 (though we weren't able to see/confirm until the update landed on our devices).

Following a bit of a hiccup when it came to the previous Chrome OS 75 release, Chrome OS 76 has been pushed to the Stable Channel and is rolling out to some devices. As well as picking up features from Chrome 76, the latest release includes Android-style notification media controls, support for virtual desktops, some accessibility improvements, and GPU acceleration for some Chromebooks in Crostini/Linux containers, among a whole pile of other changes — and you'll get to hear about most of them via the new "What's new with your Chromebook?"

Cautionary tale: Hackers hijack phone number, break into man's Google account, then try to steal $25K

Ryne Hager2019/06/17
12:10pm PDTJun 17, 2019

Identity theft via hacking or social engineering is a common problem these days, and the results can quickly spiral out of control, locking you out of the accounts you depend on permanently, as in the case of today's horror story. A contributor over at ZDNet recently suffered what can only be called a total security meltdown in the space of a week when a hacker gained access to his Google account via a SIM-swap attack.

Android Police

google account

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