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Tag: Google

  • Apple launches redesigned Maps app for users in the US

    Apple launches redesigned Maps app for users in the US

    Apple has just announced that Maps users in the United States now have access to a redesigned app that integrates a lot of social elements, but also important under-the-hood improvements. Apple’s new Maps app is faster and more accurate thanks to the many new features introduced by iOS 13 not long ago.

    In an attempt to compete with Google Maps, Apple’s own navigation app promises to offer extensive views of roads, buildings, parks, airports, and malls. Also, Maps now includes support for popular apps like Photos, Messages, Calendar, Weather and more.

    An important addition to the app is the new interactive street-level imagery with high-res, 3D photography that you can see above. This feature lets people from anywhere in the world virtually visit many US cities, including New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Houston.

    As far as the social aspect goes, Maps now includes a new feature called Collections where users can share lists of their favorite restaurants, as well as places and locations they wish to visit. Furthermore, Maps lets commuters or users who frequently visit a certain location to add it to Favorites so that they bring it up on the screen with just one tap.

    It’s also worth noting that the app now includes indoor maps for airports and malls, along with an option to send an ETA to family or friends. More importantly, Apple Maps offers real-time information about transit schedules, live departure times, arrival times and so on. For the time being, real-time transit is not available in all US cities, but it’s up and running in San Franciso Bay Area, Washington D.C., New York, Los Angeles, and Miami.

    Apple says it will continue to improve Maps and that the newly redesigned app will be rolled out to customers in Europe in the coming months, so expect more news about it very soon.

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  • Google offers three apps to keep you from getting addicted to your phone

    Google offers three apps to keep you from getting addicted to your phone

    The Google Play Store now features three Google apps designed to fight back against phone addiction. One, called Envelope, was developed by the company’s Special Projects – Experiments division and currently supports the Pixel 3a only. This app first requires you to print out a real envelope and put your Pixel 3a into it. There are cutouts only for the fingerprint reader and the main camera in the back. This reduces the functionality of the phone which will be able to make and take calls, give you the time, and take photos and videos. In other words, the app essentially turns your smartphone into a feature phone.
    Keep in mind that the envelope does prevent you from viewing the photos and videos you have just taken. Because the UI uses a black background, the app is battery friendly even if you keep your Pixel 3a inside the envelope all day. The few comments posted on the Play Store mostly gave Envelope a strong review.
    Another app found in the Play Store designed to fight phone addiction is called Activity Bubbles. Each time you unlock your phone, a new bubble is created on the screen. The bubble continues to grow in size until the phone is locked. This gives you a visual look at how often you are using your phone over the course of a day. This app and the Screen Stopwatch were developed by Google Creative Lab. The Screen Stopwatch is somewhat similar to the Activity Bubbles. Every time you unlock your handset, the large stopwatch counts off how long the display has been active over the course of a day. All three of these apps are free.

    Google originally offered the Digital Wellbeing app on the Pixels and it now is available for other Android phones as well. Last year, Google added a new requirement to the licensing agreement that it requires phone manufacturers to sign in order to use the Google Mobile Services version of Android. All phones upgraded to or installed with Android 9 or Android 10 must now come with Digital Wellbeing or feature a similar app developed by a licensed Android manufacturer.

    The topic of screen addiction was addressed in a documentary from 2016 called The Screenagers. In 2018, students from California’s Stanford University made big news by protesting against screen addiction at an Apple Store in Palo Alto. The protestors belonged to a group called Stanford Students Against Addictive Devices or SSAAD. The group was complaining that Apple wasn’t doing anything to stop users from constantly checking their iPhones. Some believe that this protest specifically led Apple to create Screen Time, a feature that tracks the daily usage of an iPhone user. And that led Google to create Digital Wellbeing.
    Screen addiction is a real problem. Last month, a study from London consisting of 42,000 adolescents discovered that 25% of the kids in the study were addicted to their phones and even experienced withdrawal symptoms when they had their handsets taken away from them.
  • Mobile dominates Southeast Asian internet, says Google’s Year in Search report

    Mobile dominates Southeast Asian internet, says Google’s Year in Search report

    Google has released its Year in Search 2019 report for Southeast Asia, showing that 90 percent of the region’s 360 million internet users now connect primarily via mobile phones.

    The report offers five key search insights for brands in the territory seeking to drive business impact in the new year.

    The Year in Search notes that Southeast Asian consumers are becoming increasingly sophisticated consumers with higher expectations, seeking high-quality products and services that improve productivity; expect convenience at a relatively low cost; are using search to make comparisons, ultimately guiding their purchase decisions. Indonesian consumers are increasingly searching for “best” products, while Malaysian consumers are more proactively researching what goes into their food and beauty products.

    Southeast Asian consumers are increasingly dependent on the internet as a source of entertainment and trusted advice, turning to search in higher numbers to seek reviews before making purchases and as a platform for entertainment. Thai users have shown a huge surge in “near me” related queries for food.

    Users in the region are increasingly socially conscious and concerned with the social impact of their purchase decisions. From trending search terms, Google’s Year in Search report shows that users are increasingly influenced by environmental news and regulations around them.

    The report also discovered growth opportunities beyond metros, with more people living in rural areas fast catching up with the urban population on the use of the internet. Google expects its potential to grow to be twice as fast in areas outside the big cities, bringing all Southeast Asians on board with online retail.

    Finally, the report identified growth in digital financial adoption as influencing the way consumers make their payments. According to Google, the digital financial services sector is set to grow in Southeast Asia and strongly shape the way consumers pay for their goods and services.

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  • Why Google’s acquisition of Irish startup Pointy is big news for retailers

    Why Google’s acquisition of Irish startup Pointy is big news for retailers

    Google has acquired Irish start-up Pointy, a firm that allows physical stores to make their products discoverable online.

    The deal is expected to be completed within the next few weeks, with TechCrunch reporting that the acquisition has seen Google pay €147 million (US$163.7 million) on the business.

    “For Google, this provides the opportunity to present shopping search results for physical stores as well as those online – something it already does in a limited capacity – and so significantly increase the value of Google Shopping for users,” says research firm GlobalData’s technology editor Lucy Ingham.

    “However, while this is a significant step in bridging the divide between brick-and-mortar stores and the online e-commerce world, the acquisition has the potential to be even more impactful. It is a significant step for Google, because it provides the search engine giant with a way to cheaply and easily catalog physical assets on a large, yet decentralized scale.”

    Google is likely to be seeking to expand its adoption of Pointy in ways that may include dropping or reducing the current one-time integration cost of £699 ($914), or even getting leading point-of-sale manufacturers to directly integrate the technology into their products, says Ingham.

    If the firm can successfully increase the prevalence of Pointy, it could eventually have coverage of physical stores to rival those of digital stores, bringing with it a potential step-change in how people shop.

    “However, there are also potential applications beyond e-commerce. What Google has bought, in essence, is a means to catalog real-world items, and the same technology in the Pointy Box could be put to use in many other fields,” said Ingham. “Potential applications could include medicines, enabling Google to collect data on gluts and shortages of particular items and use this to provide industry-targeted services, inform users or even assist its own moves into the healthcare space.”

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  • Google brings iPhone support for an important security feature

    Google brings iPhone support for an important security feature

    In the age of digital security, two-factor authentication, or 2FA, is one of the most important lines of defense against a wide array of cybersecurity issues. Recently, Google released an update to let iPhone users take advantage of this tech a lot more easily.

    Need a refresher on what 2FA is? Basically, it’s a security system that requires two different authentication mechanisms to bypass, which are often based on something you know or have, such as a password or security key. Over decades, this technology has been integrated neatly into our lives, as the PIN code on your ATM card, perhaps, or, more recently, as those ubiquitous codes texted to you whenever you do basically anything.

    Several years ago, Google announced a new way of using 2FA, where your phone can act as its own security key, or one of the two factors you need to unlock your account. You might have run into this system if you’ve recently tried to reset your Gmail password from your computer—you were probably able to reset it just by interacting with a notification on your phone. The system is super simple, easy to use, fast, and secure.

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  • AirAsia and Google to launch Asia’s first ‘tech academy’

    AirAsia and Google to launch Asia’s first ‘tech academy’

    Malaysia’s AirAsia Group says it will co-found a tech-training facility with Silicon Valley giant Google, as Southeast Asia’s biggest budget carrier by fleet continues its push to become a technology-led company.

    AirAsia Group President Aireen Omar told the Nikkei Asian Review that fresh tech talent would play a vital role in developing new businesses within the group and help fulfill plans by Group CEO Tony Fernandes to remake AirAsia into a digital era disrupter.

    “Because we have a long-term partnership with them, we said to Google why not collaborate with us to set up a tech academy, and they agreed,” Aireen said in an interview.

    Tim Synan, Google Cloud’s Southeast Asia regional director, said the AirAsia-Google Cloud Academy is a collaboration between AirAsia’s RedBeat Ventures and Google Cloud.

    “Together we’re working to upskill AirAsia AllStars with relevant expertise in Google Cloud technologies and build deep technical knowledge and Cloud expertise including Kubernetes, smart analytics, Cloud AI and more,” Synan saidi.

    “Google Cloud and our authorized training partners also offer Cloud training and enablement to AirAsia AllStars through self-paced labs, on-demand courses via Coursera, classroom training and advanced solutions labs with Google Cloud Certifications.”

    Last year AirAsia, which already offers limited travel plans on its website, announced plans to expand its online service to include booking flights with rival airlines and e-commerce in a step toward becoming a full-service travel booking company.

    As profits tumble in the face of rising fuel costs and intensifying competition, Fernandes is seeking alternative sources of revenue.

    Last year he told Nikkei that he intended to invest 100 million Malaysian ringgit ($24.6 million) a year and use the data amassed from the 100 million passengers he transports to create an “Amazon of travel.”

    AirAsia’s digital arm Redbeat Ventures acquired nine non-airline digital businesses from AirAsia in June 2018, for a dedicated focus on growing the aviation group’s noncore businesses which are envisioned to overtake the profit contribution of the airline operations.

    The nine companies included AirAsia BIG Loyalty, e-money service provider BigPay, in-flight magazine travel360, in-flight Wi-Fi operator ROKKI, duty-free platform Ourshop, cargo and parcel businesses RedCargo Logistics and RedBox Logistics, as well as travel platform Vidi and online ticketing platform RedTix.

    Last month Fernandes announced that Redbeat Ventures would open five restaurants and franchise 100 cafes over the next three-to-five years overseas, including in London and New York, as well as cities in China and Australia.

    “We can’t be a lifestyle brand without food,” said Fernandes following the launch of the company’s first fast-food restaurant. “Our airline food has been successful. [We are] the first airline ever to commercialize food.”

    Most of the group’s non-airline units are in the red, except logistics arm Teleport which recorded a small operating profit of 62.12 million ringgit. All in all, those businesses also accounted for less than 6% of AirAsia’s total revenue during the quarter ended September.

    AirAsia’s tech academy venture comes amid tumbling profits and rising fuel costs as carriers grapple with fierce competition at a time of overcapacity in the market and soft passenger demand.

    That has partly forced AirAsia to rein in regional expansion, sell some of its holdings, and shift into an asset-light model in the longer run.

    The first venture of its kind for AirAsia, as well Google, Aireen said the training facility would be open to public students by the end of this year.

    “For a start, the academy will be open to internal AirAsia employees next month who want to be reskilled to suit our current and future business operations,” Aireen said.

    The training facility would also serve as a kind of “tech talent pipeline” to help to retrain AirAsia staff for other roles within the group as more processes become automated.

    “More jobs might become redundant in the next three years, so we are giving our employees the opportunities to reskill to suit the digital economy,” said Aireen.

    Among courses to be offered include digital marketing, digital product management, software engineering and courses on building and designing tech infrastructure.

    Aireen said the academy would have its own dedicated campus, with all courses offered to be accredited by Google.

    The Silicon Valley tech giant and AirAsia have a long-term partnership which began in October 2018 when AirAsia joined hands with Google Cloud to integrate Google Cloud’s machine learning and artificial intelligence into its business processes and accelerate its transformation into a digital airline.

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  • New features for Google Assistant announced at CES

    New features for Google Assistant announced at CES

    Google Assistant has consistently beat out its rival virtual assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Cortana in tests measuring how well each one understands tasks and questions asked of it. The digital helper is the hub of the Google ecosystem which is one of the reasons why fans of the latter prefer Android over iOS. Today at CES, Google announced new features aimed at the more than 500 million monthly Assistant users which will make it more helpful on the phone, in the car, or at home.

    Google is making it easier to connect smart devices to Google Assistant through the use of a notification link that will appear on your phone or a suggestion button that shows up on the Google Home app. This saves you the time of having to type in all of the information related to your Google account. Later this year, Google will add a new feature called Scheduled Actions that will allow you to set a schedule for other compatible smart devices in the home. For example, you can tell the Assistant to start the coffee maker at 6 am so you can awaken to a steaming hot cup of java and get your caffeine fix when you need it the most. Google points out that 20 new devices have been added to the Google Home app to help you control “AC units, air purifiers, bathtubs, coffee makers, vacuums and more.”
    Did you ever sit back and wish that you were the genius who invented sticky notes? But they are quite a mess when you leave them up all around the house. Google is going to add a new feature that will create digital sticky notes for smart displays that support Google Assistant. All you need to do to leave a sticky note is say, “Hey Google, leave a note that says don’t forget your dental appointment after school today.” And if you have a smart speaker or smart display, another new feature will allow you to create a “speed dial” list that will make calls simply by saying “Hey Google, call Olaf.”
    Google also previewed today a new technology that allows Assistant to read long-form content on your phone. This would allow you to listen to news stories posted on websites just by saying “Hey Google, read it” or “Hey Google, read this page.” Imagine being able to have PhoneArena read to you hands-free while you’re driving in your car. The company says, “Unlike traditional screen readers, this experience is built on new voice datasets to create more expressive and more natural sounding voices, so it’s easier to listen for a longer period of time.” The content can be translated into 42 different languages, and Google is working on a way for the website to highlight the portion of the text being read aloud by Google while automatically scrolling the page. This “Read It” feature will be available on Android phones running version 5.0 or higher by later this year.
    Another feature for phones, smart displays, and smart speakers will allow people to engage in conversations even if they don’t speak the same language. Called interpreter mode, this is available starting today to guests of Google partners Volara and SONIFI. Both are in the hospitality business and Google is looking to bring interpreter mode to hotels, stadiums, arenas, human-rights based organizations and more.
    Lastly, Google wanted to discuss privacy. The company says that while in standby, before being awoken by the “Hey Google” or “Ok Google” wake words, Assistant doesn’t eavesdrop on you and send to Google the conversations that you are having. You can always ask the Assistant, “How do you keep my information private?” and, “Hey Google, are you saving my audio data?” You can also ask Google to delete everything you said this week that it recorded. And if you said something after accidentally activating Google Assistant, by saying “Hey Google, that wasn’t for you,” the Assistant will instantly contact short-term amnesia and forget what you just said. By default, once your request has been processed by Google’s server (although the Pixel 4 series does this on-device), the information is discarded by Google. You can choose to participate in Google’s human-based review of Assistant, but that will allow Google to keep information heard through the virtual digital helper.
  • Twitter’s Android app gets patch to fix serious vulnerability

    Twitter’s Android app gets patch to fix serious vulnerability

    Twitter announced yesterday that it patched a vulnerability in the Twitter for Android app that could have allowed a hacker to control a Twitter user’s account and send tweets and DMs from it. The vulnerability also could have given bad actor access to non-public information. Twitter says that it has no evidence that the vulnerability was ever exploited, but just to play it safe it is “taking extra caution.”
    Users of the social-media app who might have affected are being notified via the Twitter app or by email. Either way, the user will receive instructions to follow that the company says will keep them safe. The instructions received by each affected subscriber depend on the versions of Android and the Twitter app for Android being used. Twitter says that if you’re not sure what to do, just install the latest version of the app from the Google Play Store.
    Twitter says that it is sorry and will continue working to keep your data secure. If you have some questions, you can ask the company how it protects your personal data by filling out a Data Protection Inquiry Form. The iOS version of the Twitter app did not have a vulnerability which means that iPhone and iPad users will not be receiving any instructions from the firm.
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  • c is developing an Android replacement since it doesn’t trust Google

    c is developing an Android replacement since it doesn’t trust Google

    You don’t need to be a Chinese smartphone manufacturer cut off from the Google Play services version of Android to start developing an alternative operating system. You can also be a large global social-media company headquartered in the U.S. that seeks to control all personal data and aspires to world domination. The former, of course, is Huawei whose placement on the U.S. Commerce Departments entity list prevents it from accessing the U.S. based supply chain that it spent $11 billion on last year.

    Without being able to include the Google Play Store on its new phones, Huawei’s new handsets cannot run Google’s core Android apps like Search, Maps, Gmail and more. That doesn’t matter in China where most Google apps are banned, but does hurt Huawei’s international shipments. The company developed its own operating system called HarmonyOS as an alternative to the licensed version of Android. Ironically, the OS is not for smartphone use, at least not yet. So for now, Huawei is using an open-source version of Android for its phones.

    Can you guess the second company we outlined in the first paragraph? If you guessed Facebook, you’re 100% correct. The company is building a new campus where it will design new hardware. And to make sure that it is completely self sufficient, Facebook is working on making its own Android replacement; the social media giant has named Mark Lucovsky as General Manager of Operating Systems; Lucovsky was part of the team that developed Windows NT for Microsoft. Facebook also wants to design its own chips and create a new virtual assistant. Currently, its Portal smart display uses Amazon’s Alexa to handle complex tasks thrown at it by users.

    While Facebook will continue to offer Android-based apps, the problem is simply a matter of trust. Ironically, the company that allowed 87 million user profiles to be used without permission (resulting in a violation of a signed FTC consent decree and a $5 billion fine) says that it doesn’t trust that other tech companies like Google will work with it. Facebook’s VP of hardware, Andrew ‘Boz’ Bosworth said, “We really want to make sure the next generation has space for us. We don’t think we can trust the marketplace or competitors to ensure that’s the case. And so we’re gonna do it ourselves.”

    Facebook is also concerned that if it has any issues with Google, it could lead to product delays and other issues. Facebook is said to be is extremely concerned about the augmented reality glasses that it is developing. And by using its own hardware and software in a range of products, Facebook could make it difficult for the government to force it to spinoff some of its acquisitions. For example, if Facebook decides to use the Instagram name on its AR glasses as rumored, it could be harder to request that Instagram be spun off as an independent outfit if it is using Facebook’s parts in such a device.
    Facebook hasn’t proven yet that it can produce a smash hit tech device. Besides the Portal smart display, sales of its Oculus VR headsets are not exactly soaring. Still, the company is taking its self-sufficiency seriously as seen by discussions it reportedly held to acquire Cirrus Logic. The latter makes digital signal audio chips (DSP) for Apple and has a market cap close to $4.7 billion. And that is the problem with Facebook. The firm has billions of dollars available for it to spend on its most devious plans. Consider that the company has a brain-scanning system that uses optical scanning to figure out what words someone is thinking of and turn it into text. And Facebook has been shrinking the size of this down to that of a handheld device and hopes to eventually include it on smartphones.
    But hasn’t that been Facebook’s goal all along? The social media company wants to know exactly what you’re thinking at all times and profit from this knowledge.
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  • Update to Google Maps solves issue with gesture navigation

    Update to Google Maps solves issue with gesture navigation

    One thing that Android users are appreciative of is Google’s desire to keep tinkering with its apps. And once again, it is Google Maps that is the beneficiary of the latest update to come from Mountain View. The new Maps UI eliminates the side menu. Swiping to the right from the left edge will also no longer bring up the side menu, which is a boon to those who use gesture navigation on Android 10. That’s because opening the side menu can accidentally trigger the “back” gesture on the latest Android build. And the three-bar hamburger menu no longer appears on the left side of the search bar.
    The three tabs found on the bottom of Google Maps (Explore, Commute, For you) now number five and include Map, Commute, Saved, Post and Latest. Once your Google Maps app has been updated to the new UI (and it hasn’t yet on our Pixel 2 XL running Android 10), you can find the settings and some of the other options that were on the side menu by tapping on your avatar. A box will open that allows you to switch the account linked with the app, enable incognito mode (so that your travels and location searches won’t be recorded by Google), view the app’s settings and more.
    The latest version of the Google Maps app is 10.31.2, but even if you have just updated the app (as we did right as we started writing this article), there is no guarantee that the new UI will appear. Nope, you are going to have to wait since this is a server-side update that cannot be triggered by Android users.
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  • Google Maps Adds Plug Type Filter For EV Charging Stations

    Google Maps Adds Plug Type Filter For EV Charging Stations

    Google Maps has received a new filter to classify the Electronic Vehicles (EV) charging stations based on plug type. There are different types of charging connectors used by several car manufacturers, for example, Nissan uses CHAdeMO, Tesla uses its instrumentation, and also the BMW and VW use CCS plug kind for charging their cars. Since the emergence of the EV search facility over Google Maps, the users were missing out on the ability to filter results based on the connector type, GizmoChina reported on Sunday.

    The recent update will surely a sigh of relief for the daily drivers, it will facilitate them to drive car on to the compatible charging station. To use the new feature, the users can head over to the Google Maps > Settings > Electric Vehicle Settings >Your Plugs > Choose and save.

    Google Maps has recently revealed that it has captured more than 10 million miles of Street View imagery – a distance that could circle the globe over 400 times. The company also announced that Google Earth now lets people browse more than 36 million square miles of high definition satellite images from various providers – covering more than 98 percent of the entire population – to see the world from above.

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  • Burberry launches Google Lens pop-up experience store

    Burberry launches Google Lens pop-up experience store

    Burberry has launched a digital flash pop-up experience powered by Google Lens at Ely’s Yard, Brick Lane in London.

    Three large Burberry porcelain fawns are displayed inside glass display cases in an industrial-like setting. By scanning one of the glass boxes with the Google Lens app, users are able to see an aerial live feed of themselves on their phone, captured by a camera suspended 35 metres above them. To share the moment, participants can take a screenshot of themselves with the fawns to post on social media.

    The experience allows people to capture “unique moments of togetherness” with friends and strangers, exploring humans’ relationship with technology by presenting users with multiple perspectives on an image of themselves, said a Burberry spokesperson.

    Forming part of Burberry’s festive campaign ‘What is Love’, the pop-up experience was open from December 11 to 15.

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  • Google Messages adds new feature that protects you from spam

    Google Messages adds new feature that protects you from spam

    In an attempt to make your conversations as safe as possible, Google is adding all sorts of security features. The last one comes is meant to protect you from spam and involves a new feature called Verified SMS that now rolling out to Messages app in several countries.

    The new feature adds another layer of security on top of Android’s Rich Communication Services (RCS) that Google tries to push out to all users. Anyway, it looks like with Verified SMS for Messages, the app will be able to confirm the true identity of the business that’s texting you.

    Yes, the new feature only works for businesses, but it greatly reduces the spam you received, so here is how it works. As the name suggests, Verified SMS will verify on a per-message basis that content is sent by a specific that that registered with Google. If it’s not, you won’t get the message, otherwise, you should see the business name and logo along with a verification badge.

    Google also revealed the first companies that are allowed to send messages with Verified SMS: 1-800-Flowers, Banco Bradesco, Kayak, Payback, and SoFi. Also, Google Pay India and verification codes from Google will be part of the Verified SMS program, but more businesses are signing up to use the new feature quite often.

    According to Google, Verified SMS for Messages is rolling out gradually in nine countries starting in the United States, India, Mexico, Brazil, the UK, France, Philippines, Spain, and Canada, but more countries will be added to the list in the future.

    In the same piece of news, Google announced that it’s adding Spam protection for Messages, a new feature that will warn Android users about suspected spam and unsafe websites it detects. This specific spam protection feature is now rolling out in the United States, but it’s been available in other countries for a while now.

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  • Google fixes issue that kept new Android apps from being found in the Play Store

    Google fixes issue that kept new Android apps from being found in the Play Store

    So let’s say that you spent countless hours developing a new Android app that you believe will change the world. You submit it to Google and it passes with flying colors. The app is published but a bug prevents Android users from finding it and as a result, there are practically no installs. Is this the plot from a new Disney movie called Frozen…out of the Play Store? No, unfortunately, this is a real-life situation that was affecting Android developers.
    While Tire Valet can now be found, several Reddit posts revealed other examples of apps that were not appearing on the Play Store. Some with hundreds of thousands of installs failed to show up when users searched for them in Google’s Android app storefront. And the company’s initial response to complaining developers was just self-serving; Google told some of these developers that they should expand their marketing campaigns and spend more on Google’s AdWords. But some developers spent as much as $350 a day on the platform and their app (or apps) still were missing in action.
    A Reddit post by a user named omeysalvi sums up the typical reaction by affected developers. “Hi guys, I just launched an Android game a few days ago. The app is published and downloadable through its link. But I cannot find the game in the Google Play Store if I search for it by name. I even added the company name to the game name. Still couldn’t find it. It has 10 downloads so far. What am I doing wrong?” Another developer echoed the same complaint. Reddit user neupanedinesh wrote, “Same exact issue for me. I released a new game like a week ago and run an ad campaign just to index the app. I’ve done a lot of keyword research for it still it’s not ranked for any keyword, not even a single keyword. It’s so frustrating.”
    Google has apparently disseminated a fix exterminating a bug that prevented the Play Store from indexing these newly published apps. Once an app is indexed, the title and keywords associated with the app help it surface during a search. This process can take up to a couple of weeks; a good example of this is the Android version of the official Craigslist app which still does not appear when you search for it in the Play Store. And while this usually resolves itself after a few weeks, many of the developers complaining had published their apps months ago. The good news is that developers have been sending updated posts over the last 24 hours stating that their missing apps are now discoverable using the search tool in the Google Play Store.
    An indexing bug has affected Google before. Earlier this year, recently published webpages weren’t appearing on Google Search because of a software issue. At the time, the Google Webmasters Twitter account posted a tweet that said indexing issues were causing “stale” search results. Google’s recently published report, “How Google Play Works: 2019 Google Play Public Policy Report,” mentions how important the Play Store search tool is to users who are looking for an app with specific capabilities. “We want users to have a unique, personalized Google Play Store experience every time they visit the store, and the search functionality in the Google Play Store is an important tool for helping users find the apps and games they’re seeking,” the company wrote.
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  • Gmail update lets users send emails as attachments

    Gmail update lets users send emails as attachments

    Google is making it easier to forward emails to multiple recipients via Gmail. The latest update lets you attach emails to other emails in Gmail without having to download them. Simply drag and drop the email you want to forward inside your email. In fact, you can drag multiple emails into a new thread, which makes the new feature even more useful.

    Another method to insert emails in a new thread to select the emails from the Gmail inbox and then choose to “Forward as attachment” from the three-dot menu. You can even reply to an email by adding multiple emails in the compose window via drag and drop.

    There are a couple of important details that Google mentions in the announcement. First off, all attached emails become .eml files. Secondly, you can attach as many emails as you want. Last but not least, every attached email will open in a new window.

    The new feature revealed by Google today will be available to all Gmail users, not just Gsuite members. However, according to Google, the rollout may take up to 15 days starting on December 9, so everyone should get it by the end of the year.