MakeUseOf: 8 Nifty Apps to Identify Anything Using Your Phone’s Camera. “For many people, your phone’s camera is one of its most important aspects. It has a ton of uses, from superimposing wild creatures into reality with AR apps to taking sharp pictures even at night. But you might be missing out on another major ability your phone’s camera has: it can work as a visual search engine and identify just about anything you see in the world. Here are the best identification apps for Android and iPhone.”
Android
Exclusive: Google Is Banning A Play Store Developer With More Than Half A Billion App Installs (BuzzFeed News)
BuzzFeed News: Exclusive: Google Is Banning A Play Store Developer With More Than Half A Billion App Installs. “As of today, 46 apps from DO Global, which is partly owned by internet giant Baidu, are gone from the Play store. BuzzFeed News also found that DO Global apps no longer offer ad inventory for purchase via Google’s AdMob network, suggesting the ban has also been extended to the internet giant’s ad products.”
TechCrunch: A hotspot finder app exposed 2 million Wi-Fi network passwords
TechCrunch: A hotspot finder app exposed 2 million Wi-Fi network passwords. “The app, downloaded by thousands of users, allowed anyone to search for Wi-Fi networks in their nearby area. The app allows the user to upload Wi-Fi network passwords from their devices to its database for others to use. But that database of more than two million network passwords, however, was left exposed and unprotected, allowing anyone to access and download the contents in bulk.”
The Citizen: Google offers Android users choice to satisfy EU
The Citizen (South Africa): Google offers Android users choice to satisfy EU. “Google on Thursday said users of its hugely popular Android devices would be offered a choice of five browsers and search engines as part of the company’s effort to meet EU competition concerns.”
PC Magazine: To Stop Shady Apps, Google To Scrutinize First-Time Developers
PC Magazine: To Stop Shady Apps, Google To Scrutinize First-Time Developers. “To better protect Android users from malicious apps, Google plans on spending more time vetting new developers who want to publish over the Google Play store.”
TechCrunch: Android users’ security and privacy at risk from shadowy ecosystem of pre-installed software, study warns
TechCrunch: Android users’ security and privacy at risk from shadowy ecosystem of pre-installed software, study warns. “A large-scale independent study of pre-installed Android apps has cast a critical spotlight on the privacy and security risks that preloaded software poses to users of the Google developed mobile platform.”
Ubergizmo: A Worrying Two-Thirds Of Android Antivirus Apps Are Apparently Frauds
Ubergizmo: A Worrying Two-Thirds Of Android Antivirus Apps Are Apparently Frauds. “Antivirus apps are meant to give you peace of mind where in the event you accidentally click on that suspicious link or email, you know that your device should be somewhat protected. Unfortunately there are so many antivirus apps out there that it can be a bit difficult to choose which one to go for, and the sad thing is that most of them are apparent frauds.”
