Engadget: Android can now ‘remix’ emojis and help with reading practice. “Google has listed a bunch of features rolling out to the Android ecosystem starting today, June 1st, and one of them can help new readers improve their diction and vocabulary.”
CNN: Google removes ‘Slavery Simulator’ game from store following a wave of criticism in Brazil. ” A game entitled ‘Slavery Simulator,’ where players can ‘buy and sell’ enslaved Black characters, has been taken down from Google’s app store after widespread criticism from Brazilian social media users.”
Android Police: Google shoves more ads into the Play Store, to no one’s surprise. “The banners themselves are wider, so you’ll see two per row, but you’re getting two rows, so you’re actually seeing more ads — four of them, to be more precise — on your screen. And yet again, you can scroll through them to see more.” *Altavista-ing intensifies*
The Verge: An Android app started secretly recording users almost a year after it was listed on Google Play. “An Android recording app called iRecorder Screen Recorder began as an innocent screen recording app but turned evil nearly a year after it was first released, as detailed by Ars Technica. The app first came out in September 2021, but after an update the following August, it began recording a minute of audio every 15 minutes and forwarding those recordings, through an encrypted link, to the developer’s server.”
WIRED: ChatGPT Scams Are Infiltrating the App Store and Google Play. “There are paid versions of OpenAI’s GPT and ChatGPT for regular users and developers, but anyone can try the AI chatbot for free on the company’s website. The scam apps take advantage of people who have heard about this new technology—and perhaps the frenzy of people clamoring to use it—but don’t have much additional context for how to try it themselves.”
India Today: Google removes 3500 loan apps in India for misleading users, violating Play Store guidelines . “In order to safeguard users from falling for such apps, Google has taken action against more than 3,500 loan apps in India during 2022 for breaking the rules of the Play Store, as per Play protect report.This means that Google has removed these apps from its app store.”
City A.M.: Google to change app store rules after UK competition agency flags concerns. “Google said it will allow app developers in the UK to use alternative payment options following an investigation by the UK’s competition regulator. The tech giant said it would present other payment options to Google Play’s billing system for in-app purchases ‘in a neutral manner’ if its commitments are accepted by the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).”
XDA Developers: Despite the best efforts of Google Play Protect, the Play Store is not as safe as it may appear. “Recently, a report from Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky’s Secure List detailed how much it costs for different types of malware to function on the Play Store. For example, it costs anywhere from $2,000 to $20,000 to pay for a ‘loader’ that injects an already existing app with malicious code while bypassing Google Play Protect.”
Asia One: Gone in 2 hours: Retiree loses $70k in life savings after installing fake Google Play app on phone. “He had just gotten his pension totalling $30,000 in January this year. Within the same month, it was all gone, along with $40,000 of his life savings. Within two hours, his DBS bank account was near-emptied by cybercriminals.” This article takes place in Singapore. $30,000 Singapore dollars equals $22,549.61 American dollars at this writing. $40,000 Singapore dollars is just over $30,000 American.
Android Police: Google Play will now auto-archive your least-used apps. “If you’re big into downloading media, or playing weighty games, finding all the space you need can be a challenge. Last year, Google introduced the idea of app archiving to help people manage their precious storage, and now it’s tweaking the program to work automatically.”
The Verge: Google is trying to make sure apps let you delete your account. “The company is adding a data deletion requirement to the Play Store’s rules. The requirement should make it easier to delete an account regardless of whether you’ve gotten rid of the app.”
Bloomberg: Google Suspends Pinduoduo After Finding Malware in Versions. “Google has suspended PDD Holdings Inc.’s main Chinese shopping app Pinduoduo after discovering malware in unsanctioned versions of the software, dealing a blow to one of the country’s biggest online retailers.”
Bleeping Computer: Shady reward apps on Google Play amass 20 million downloads. “The applications promote themselves as health, pedometer, and good habit-building apps, promising to give users random rewards for staying active in their daily lives, reaching distance goals, etc. According to a report by the Dr. Web antivirus, though, the rewards may be impossible to cash out or are only made available partially after forcing users to watch a large number of advertisements.”
Bloomberg: Google Play Fee Suit by Consumers Grows to 21 Million Users. “Google now faces more than 21 million customers, instead of just a handful, in a lawsuit alleging its app store collects exorbitant fees. A federal judge exponentially increased the Alphabet Inc. unit’s damages exposure by granting class-action status… in a suit alleging that Google Play has abused its power over the sale and distribution of Android mobile applications.”
The Register: Almost 300 predatory loan apps found in Google and Apple stores . “Almost 300 apps, downloaded by around 15 million users, have been pulled from the Google Play and Apple App stores over claims they promised quick loans at reasonable rates but then used extortion and other predatory schemes against borrowers.”
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