Android

Google Play streamlines policies around kids’ apps as regulations tighten • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 16, 2022Posted in Android, Apps, families, Google, kids, PrivacyNo Comments

Google Play today announced a series of changes to its programs and policies around apps designed for children. The company is describing the update as an expansion of its previously launched “Teacher Approved” program, which includes a review process where teachers and experts vetted apps not just for safety and security elements, but for educational quality and other factors. The newly revamped policies will now impact how apps qualify for this program, which allows apps to gain entry to the Play Store’s “Kids” tab. These changes should help to streamline some of the policies around apps made for children which, in turn, will increase the number of apps that become eligible to be reviewed for the Teacher Approved program. In addition, these policy updates and other changes will push Android app makers to come into compliance with stricter regulations and laws around software targeting children. Before, Google Play ran two (sometimes overlapping) programs around apps aimed at kids. App developers were required to participate in Google’s “Designed for Families” program if their app was aimed at children, and could optionally choose to participate in the program if their app targeted both kids and older users. The Designed for Families program included a number of requirements around the app’s content, its functionality, use of ads, data practices, use of warning labels, feature set, underlying technology components, and more. Any apps in this program were also eligible to be rated for the Teacher Approved program, which had stricter guidelines, but entry was not guaranteed. Now, the additional policy requirements for the Designed for Families program are being rolled into the Play Store’s broader Families Policy. This latter set of guidelines requires apps to comply with applicable laws and regulations relating to children, like the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), and the E.U. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), for example. The Families Policy also prohibits access to precise location data, prevents developers from transmitting device identifiers from children, and includes additional privacy and content restrictions, among other things. For developers, the merging of the Designed for Families requirements into the Google Play Families Policy simplifies and strengthens the rules for developers around apps that target kids. And, with this change, all the apps that meet the now more robust Families Policy will become eligible to apply for the Teacher Approved program. The Teacher Approved program’s requirements are not changing, however, and only a subset of apps meeting the overarching Families Policy will qualify. The Teacher Approved program itself first arrived in April 2020 — at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns. At this time, many schools had shifted to virtual learning, and children were spending more time on their devices to both learn and be entertained. Beyond meeting safety requirements and government regulations, the apps chosen for “Teacher Approved” were vetted by a panel of academic experts including more than 200 U.S. teachers. The panel rated the apps on various aspects like age-appropriateness, quality of experience, enrichment, and whether kids enjoy using the app, among other things. This information would then be displayed on the app’s Play Store listing if the app was approved so parents could determine if the app was right for their child. Consumers can find these Teacher Approved apps on the “Kids” tab of the Play Store or they can look for the Teacher Approved badge on an individual app’s listing. With the update, all apps that are compliant with the Families Policy will also soon receive an additional badge that’s displayed in the Data safety section of their app’s listing. This badge will indicate the app has committed to the Play Store’s Families Policy. Image Credits: Google In addition to the merging of its two families policies, Google also noted it recently updated its Families Self-Certified Ads SDK Program. Makers of SDKs (software development kits, or software used by developers to expand the functionality of their apps), must now identify which versions of their SDKs are appropriate for use in Families apps. In 2023, Android app developers in the Families program will be required to use only the SDKs that are identified as appropriate — though Google suggests developers start to make the shift to these safer SDKs now. These changes aren’t just about serving developers or consumers — they also help Google to meet stricter regulations being considered, drafted, and enacted worldwide around how software is permitted to handle kids’ data — such as the EU’s GDPR and the U.K.’s Age Appropriate Design Code. Failure to meet these requirements can result in significant penalties, as Meta recently learned when it was fined roughly $400 million for how it treated children’s data on Instagram.

A simple Android lock screen bypass bug landed a researcher $70,000 • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 14, 2022Posted in Android, cybersecurity, Google Pixel 6, lock screen, Security, security vulnerabilityNo Comments

Google has paid out $70,000 to a security researcher for privately reporting an “accidental” security bug that allowed anyone to unlock Google Pixel phones without knowing its passcode. The lock screen bypass bug, tracked as CVE-2022-20465, is described as a local escalation of privilege bug because it allows someone, with the device in their hand, to access the device’s data without having to enter the lock screen’s passcode. Hungary-based researcher David Schütz said the bug was remarkably simple to exploit but took Google about five months to fix. Schütz discovered anyone with physical access to a Google Pixel phone could swap in their own SIM card and enter its preset recovery code to bypass the Android’s operating system’s lock screen protections. In a blog post about the bug, published now that the bug is fixed, Schütz described how he found the bug accidentally, and reported it to Google’s Android team. Android lock screens let users set a numerical passcode, password, or a pattern to protect their phone’s data, or these days a fingerprint or face print. Your phone’s SIM card might also have a separate PIN code set to block a thief from ejecting and physically stealing your phone number. But SIM cards have an additional personal unlocking code, or PUK, to reset the SIM card if the user incorrectly enters the PIN code more than three times. PUK codes are fairly easy for device owners to obtain, often printed on the SIM card packaging or directly from the cell carrier’s customer service. Schütz found that the bug meant that entering a SIM card’s PUK code was enough to trick his fully-patched Pixel 6 phone, and his older Pixel 5, into unlocking his phone and data, without ever visually displaying the lock screen. He warned that other Android devices might also be vulnerable. Since a malicious actor could bring their own SIM card and its corresponding PUK code, only physical access to the phone is required, he said. “The attacker could just swap the SIM in the victim’s device, and perform the exploit with a SIM card that had a PIN lock and for which the attacker knew the correct PUK code,” said Schütz. Google can pay security researchers up to $100,000 for privately reporting bugs that could allow someone to bypass the lock screen, since a successful exploit would allow access to a device’s data. The bug bounty rewards are high in part to compete with efforts by companies like Cellebrite and Grayshift, which rely on software exploits to build and sell phone cracking technology to law enforcement agencies. In this case, Google paid Schütz a lesser $70,000 bug bounty reward because while his bug was marked as a duplicate, Google was unable to reproduce — or fix — the bug reported before him. Google fixed the Android bug in a security update released on November 5, 2022 for devices running Android 10 through Android 13. You can see Schütz exploiting the bug in his video below.

Google says surveillance vendor targeted Samsung phones with zero-days • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 10, 2022Posted in Android, mobile spyware, samsung galaxy, SecurityNo Comments

Google says it has evidence that a commercial surveillance vendor was exploiting three zero-day security vulnerabilities found in newer Samsung smartphones. The vulnerabilities, discovered in Samsung’s custom-built software, were used together as part of an exploit chain to target Samsung phones running Android. The chained vulnerabilities allow an attacker to gain kernel read and write privileges as the root user, and ultimately expose a device’s data. Google Project Zero security researcher Maddie Stone said in a blog post that the exploit chain targets Samsung phones with a Exynos chip running a specific kernel version. Samsung phones are sold with Exynos chips primarily across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, which is likely where the targets of the surveillance are located. Stone said Samsung phones running the affected kernel at the time include the S10, A50, and A51. The flaws, since patched, were exploited by a malicious Android app, which the user may have been tricked into installing from outside of the app store. The malicious app allows the attacker to escape the app sandbox designed to contain its activity, and access the rest of the device’s operating system. Only a component of the exploit app was obtained, Stone said, so it isn’t known what the final payload was, even if the three vulnerabilities paved the way for its eventual delivery. “The first vulnerability in this chain, the arbitrary file read and write, was the foundation of this chain, used four different times and used at least once in each step,” wrote Stone. “The Java components in Android devices don’t tend to be the most popular targets for security researchers despite it running at such a privileged level,” said Stone. Google declined to name the commercial surveillance vendor, but said the exploitation follows a pattern similar to recent device infections where malicious Android apps were abused to deliver powerful nation-state spyware. Earlier this year security researchers discovered Hermit, an Android and iOS spyware developed by RCS Lab and used in targeted attacks by governments, with known victims in Italy and Kazakhstan. Hermit relies on tricking a target into downloading and installing the malicious app, such as a disguised cell carrier assistance app, from outside of the app store, but then silently steals a victim’s contacts, audio recordings, photos, videos, and granular location data. Google began notifying Android users whose devices have been compromised by Hermit. Surveillance vendor Connexxa also used malicious sideloaded apps to target both Android and iPhone owners. Google reported the three vulnerabilities to Samsung in late 2020, and Samsung rolled out patches to affected phones in March 2021, but did not disclose at the time that the vulnerabilities were being actively exploited. Stone said that Samsung has since committed to begin disclosing when vulnerabilities are actively exploited, following Apple and Google, which also disclose in their security updates when vulnerabilities are under attack. “The analysis of this exploit chain has provided us with new and important insights into how attackers are targeting Android devices,” Stone added, intimating that further research could unearth new vulnerabilities in custom software built by Android device makers, like Samsung. “It highlights a need for more research into manufacturer specific components. It shows where we ought to do further variant analysis,” said Stone.

Google Play revamp to highlight higher-quality apps, offer new promotional capabilities • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 2, 2022Posted in Android, Apps, developers, Google, play storeNo Comments

Google today announced it’s making several changes to the Google Play Store that will impact Android apps’ discoverability, how developers can market their apps to consumers, and various trust and safety concerns. Most importantly, Google is now advising developers that the Play Store will begin to prioritize apps that deliver on both technical and in-app quality by promoting them in more places across the Play Store where they can be discovered by consumers. The changes hint at Google’s intent to take a more editorial eye as to how apps are featured and distributed on the Play Store. That’s an area that’s typically been a heavier focus for Apple in prior years — especially following its own App Store revamp in 2017, which saw it separating games and apps into their own tabs and the introduction of editorial content, including articles and tips, on the store’s main page. The Play Store isn’t going quite that far, however. Instead, Google says it will now begin to steer consumers away from lower-quality apps by changing how it determines which apps will be made more visible on the platform. Specifically, it’s implementing new quality thresholds that will exclude apps that exceed certain crash rates and “app not responsive” (ANR) rates, both on an overall and per-phone model basis. Google says the apps that don’t meet these thresholds will be excluded from some areas of the Play Store, including recommendations, while others may even include a warning on their store listing to set appropriate user expectations. Image Credits: Google Beyond technical quality, Play Store editors will also look at a range of factors, like whether or not the app or game has a polished design, if the content keeps users engaged, if the onboarding process is clear, if the ads are well-integrated, if the app is accessible, and if the navigation, controls and menus are easy to use, among other things. They’ll also check to see if the app meets Android’s quality guidelines and best practices, detailed on the Android Developers website. In addition, the company will roll out to developers new promotional content formats and a new type of Custom Store Listing designed to help place apps in front of more users. In the case of the former, developers will be able to leverage LiveOps — the special merchandising units for promoting apps on the Play Store. Today, these are used to promote discounts and offers, major app updates, in-app events, pre-registration announcements, and more. Apple has a similar feature, launched last year. The sorts of marketing units give app stores a more real-time feel as they can market on reasons to download and launch apps now, instead of just serving as a general promotion. Image Credits: Google Google notes that developers using LiveOps have seen a 3.6% increase in revenue and 5.1% increase in 28-day daily active users versus similar titles that don’t take advantage of the offering. Now, it will rename LiveOps to “Promotional Content” to reflect longer-term plans to expand the feature to support new content types — including those which will see the promotional units appearing more deeply integrated within the Play Store across users’ homepages, in search and discovery areas, in title listings, and directly in apps via deeplinks. Developers will also soon be able to create a new type of listing that will allow them to specifically target churned users (people who tried the app or game, then abandoned it). This “Churned-user Custom Store Listings” format, which will roll out closer to year-end, will be able to display a specific message designed to re-acquire prior users. Two other changes are focused on app safety and protecting developers — and the consumers downloading their apps — from coordinated attacks. Google will update the Play Integrity API, which helps protect against risky and fraudulent traffic, with more features. Developers will be able to customize API responses, set up tests in the Play Console, and use new reporting to analyze their API responses. They’ll also be able to debug API responses from the Play Store app’s developer settings on any device. Plus, Google says it’s launching a new program designed to address coordinated attacks on app ratings and reviews. The company didn’t offer much information on how this program would work, but it would give developers a way to fight back if their app was being unfairly targeted with fake reviews either by users or their competitors, presumably. This is an area of concern that recently made the news, in fact, when a top-ranked new social app, Gas, suddenly became the target of a hoax that claimed it was being used for human trafficking, leading users to delete their accounts. The changes follow earlier updates to the Play Store designed to help consumers better discover non-smartphone apps that run on their smartwatches, TV, or tablets. Earlier this year, Google also warned developers it would hide and block downloads for outdated apps. Google alerted developers they must now, as of Nov. 1, 2022, target API level 30 (Android 11) or above if they want their app to be discoverable on the play Store by new users running newer versions of the Android OS.

Google pauses enforcement of Play Store billing requirement in India following antitrust order • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 1, 2022Posted in Android, Apps, Gaming, Google, Google Play, indiaNo Comments

Google is indefinitely pausing the enforcement of its policy requiring developers to use Play Store’s billing system for user transactions in India following an order by the country’s antitrust body. The Android maker on Tuesday updated a support page to disclose the move and said that the requirement to use Google Play’s billing system still applies for in-app purchases outside of India. Last week, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) ordered Google not to restrict app developers from using third-party payment processing services for in-app purchases and purchasing apps through the Play Store. The antitrust watchdog also fined the company $113 million for abusing the dominant position of its Play Store in the country. “Following the CCI’s recent ruling, we are pausing enforcement of the requirement for developers to use Google Play’s billing system for the purchase of digital goods and services for transactions by users in India,” the company said, adding that it is reviewing its legal options in the country, suggesting it may challenge the competition regulator’s decision. Google had previously extended the deadline for following its Play Store billing requirement in the South Asian market until October 31. The regulator announced its decision after interviewing a number of industry players and smartphone makers, including Samsung, Xiaomi and Microsoft. It had also slapped another $162 million fine on Google for anti-competitive practices related to Android.

Inside TheTruthSpy, the stalkerware network spying on thousands • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 26, 2022Posted in Android, cybersecurity, mobile spyware, Security, stalkerware, wiretappingNo Comments

A massive cache of leaked data reveals the inner workings of a stalkerware operation that is spying on hundreds of thousands of people around the world, including Americans. The leaked data includes call logs, text messages, granular location data and other personal device data of unsuspecting victims whose Android phones and tablets were compromised by a fleet of near-identical stalkerware apps, including TheTruthSpy, Copy9, MxSpy and others. These Android apps are planted by someone with physical access to a person’s device and are designed to stay hidden on their home screens but will continuously and silently upload the phone’s contents without the owner’s knowledge. SPYWARE LOOKUP TOOL You can check to see if your Android phone or tablet was compromised here. Months after we published our investigation uncovering the stalkerware operation, a source provided ZebethMedia with tens of gigabytes of data dumped from the stakerware’s servers. The cache contains the stalkerware operation’s core database, which includes detailed records on every Android device that was compromised by any of the stalkerware apps in TheTruthSpy’s network since early 2019 (though some records date earlier) and what device data was stolen. Given that victims had no idea that their device data was stolen, ZebethMedia extracted every unique device identifier from the leaked database and built a lookup tool to allow anyone to check if their device was compromised by any of the stalkerware apps up to April 2022, which is when the data was dumped. ZebethMedia has since analyzed the rest of the database. Using mapping software for geospatial analysis, we plotted hundreds of thousands of location data points from the database to understand its scale. Our analysis shows TheTruthSpy’s network is enormous, with victims on every continent and in almost every country. But stalkerware like TheTruthSpy operates in a legal gray area that makes it difficult for authorities around the world to combat, despite the growing threat it poses to victims. First, a word about the data. The database is about 34 gigabytes in size and consists of metadata, such as times and dates, as well as text-based content, like call logs, text messages and location data — even names of Wi-Fi networks that a device connected to and what was copied and pasted from the phone’s clipboard, including passwords and two-factor authentication codes. The database did not contain media, images, videos or call recordings taken from victims’ devices, but instead logged information about each file, such as when a photo or video was taken, and when calls were recorded and for how long, allowing us to determine how much content was exfiltrated from victims’ devices and when. Each compromised device uploaded a varying amount of data depending on how long their devices were compromised and available network coverage. ZebethMedia examined the data spanning March 4 to April 14, 2022, or six weeks of the most recent data stored in the database at the time it was leaked. It’s possible that TheTruthSpy’s servers only retain some data, such as call logs and location data, for a few weeks, but other content, like photos and text messages, for longer. This is what we found. This map shows six weeks of cumulative location data plotted on a map of North America. The location data is extremely granular and shows victims in major cities, urban hubs and traveling on major transport lines. Image Credits: ZebethMedia The database has about 360,000 unique device identifiers, including IMEI numbers for phones and advertising IDs for tablets. This number represents how many devices were compromised by the operation to date and about how many people are affected. The database also contains the email addresses of every person who signed up to use one of the many TheTruthSpy and clone stalkerware apps with the intention of planting them on a victim’s device, or about 337,000 users. That’s because some devices may have been compromised more than once (or by another app in the stalkerware network), and some users have more than one compromised device. About 9,400 new devices were compromised during the six-week span, our analysis shows, amounting to hundreds of new devices each day. The database stored 608,966 location data points during that same six-week period. We plotted the data and created a time lapse to show the cumulative spread of known compromised devices around the world. We did this to understand how wide-scale TheTruthSpy’s operation is. The animation is zoomed out to the world level to protect individuals’ privacy, but the data is extremely granular and shows victims at transportation hubs, places of worship and other sensitive locations. By breakdown, the United States ranked first with the most location data points (278,861) of any other country during the six-week span. India had the second most location data points (77,425), Indonesia third (42,701), Argentina fourth (19,015) and the United Kingdom (12,801) fifth. Canada, Nepal, Israel, Ghana and Tanzania were also included in the top 10 countries by volume of location data. This map shows the total number of locations ranked by country. The U.S. had the most location data points at 278,861 over the six-week span, followed by India, Indonesia, and Argentina, which makes sense given their huge geographic areas and populations. Image Credits: ZebethMedia The database contained a total of 1.2 million text messages, including the recipient’s contact name, and 4.42 million call logs during the six-week span, including detailed records of who called whom, for how long, and their contact’s name and phone number. ZebethMedia has seen evidence that data was likely collected from the phones of children. These stalkerware apps also recorded the contents of thousands of calls during the six weeks, the data shows. The database contains 179,055 entries of call recording files that are stored on another TheTruthSpy server. Our analysis correlated records with the dates and times of call recordings with location data stored elsewhere in the database to determine where the calls were recorded. We focused on U.S. states that have stricter phone call recording laws, which require that more than

Google hit with $113 million fine in India for anti-competitive practices with Play Store policies • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 25, 2022Posted in Android, Apps, Google, Google India, Government & Policy, indiaNo Comments

India’s antitrust watchdog has hit Google with $113 million fine for abusing the dominant position of its app store, the second such penalty on the Android-maker in just as many weeks in the key overseas market. The Competition Commission of India, which opened the investigation in late 2020, said mandating developers to use Google’s own billing system for paid apps and in-app purchases through Play Store “constitutes an imposition of unfair condition” and thus violates provisions of the nation’s Section 4(2)(a)(i) of the Act. The investigation also found: Google is found to be following discriminatory practices by not using GPBS for its own applications i.e., YouTube. This also amount to imposition of discriminatory conditions as well as pricing as YouTube is not paying the service fee as being imposed on other apps covered in the GPBS requirements. Thus, Google is found to be in violation of Section 4(2)(a)(i) and 4(2)(a)(ii) of the Act. Mandatory imposition of GPBS disturbs innovation incentives and the ability of both the payment processors as well as app developers to undertake technical development and innovate and thus, tantamount to limiting technical development in the market for in-app payment processing services. in violation of the provisions of the Act. Thus, Google is found to be in violation of the provisions of Section 4(2)(b)(ii) of the Act. Mandatory imposition of GPBS by Google, also results in denial of market access for payment aggregators as well as app developers, in violation of the provisions of Section 4(2)(c) of the Act. The practices followed by Google results in leveraging its dominance in market for licensable mobile OS and app stores for Android OS, to protect its position in the downstream markets, in violation of the provisions of Section 4(2)(e) of the Act. Different methodologies used by Google to integrate, its own UPI app vis-à-vis other rival UPI apps, with the Play Store results in violation of Sections 4(2)(a)(ii), 4(2)(c) and 4(2)(e) of the Act. India is Google’s largest market by users. The company has poured billions of dollars in the South Asian market over the past decade as it aggressively searched to find major untapped regions worldwide to supercharge its growth. The company reaches nearly all of India’s 600 million internet users. Android commands 97% of the local smartphone market. Google has pledged to invest $10 billion in India over the coming years. It has already invested up to $5.5 billion in the local telecom giants Jio Platforms and Airtel. On Thursday, the competition regulator fined Google $161.9 million for anti-competitive practices related to Android mobile devices and made a series of stringent redressal measures. The watchdog was investigating whether Google had assumed dominant position in five different markets: licensable OS for smartphones, app store, web search services, non-OS specific mobile web browsers and online video hosting platform in India. Google was dominant in all of those relevant markets, the regulator concluded. The antitrust watchdog said that device manufacturers should not be forced to install Google’s bouquet of apps and the search giant should not deny access to its Play Services APIs and monetary and other incentives to vendors. Amazon told the regulator that over half a dozen hardware vendors had indicated that they could not enter into a TV manufacturing relationship with the e-commerce group over fear of retaliation from Google. (More to follow)

Google’s Android Go for entry-level phones is now on 250 million devices • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 20, 2022Posted in Android, Android Go, Apps, Google, HardwareNo Comments

Five years after Google released the first version of Android Go, its mobile operating system for entry-level devices, the program has now amassed over 250 million monthly active devices. That’s up from 200 million Android Go monthly active devices milestone that Google shared in December last year. To mark the occasion, the search giant has also announced the new Android 13 (Go Edition) that delivers several premium features for the affordable smartphone lineups. The company said one of the key updates shipping with this version is Google Play System Updates for Android Go devices. This will allow consumers to receive some essential updates timely and on the fly without having to wait for the handset’s phonemakers to issue them. “This will make the delivery of critical updates quick and simple without compromising storage availability on the device. The result is a phone that stays up to date over time — and you don’t have to wait for the next release or a software push from your phone’s manufacturer to have the latest and greatest,” the company explained. Android 13 (Go Edition) also introduces company’s new design language, Material You, for better theming and personalization of the phone’s interface. Google first introduced Material You with Android 12 for a ubiquitous customization experience throughout the system. For instance, if you change your wallpaper, the color scheme across the system changes to reflect that. Image Credits: Google What’s more, the new Android Go version shows you personalized articles and content if you swipe left from the home screen. This Discover feed also includes short videos and game updates from sports teams you follow. The new Go Editon update also brings some of the Android 13 features like Notification Permissions and the ability to define languages per app. Google said devices with Android 13 (Go Edition) will show up in 2023. In September, Google quietly increased the requirement of minimum RAM size to 2GB for devices launching or updating to Android 13. The company also works on some local forks of Android Go for a customized user experience. Last year, the company partnered with Indian telecom giant Jio to release an $87 phone called JioPhone Next with a forked version of Android Go.

Reliance launches JioBook, its maiden Android-powered laptop • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 20, 2022Posted in Android, Gadgets, Hardware, Jio Platforms, Qualcomm, relianceNo Comments

Jio Platforms has quietly launched its first laptop, entering into a new product category as the Indian telecom giant aggressively expands its offerings. The laptop, called JioBook, runs JioOS, a custom Android-based OS that has been “optimized for superior performance” and local languages support. The laptop, manufactured in India, is selling at 15,799 Indian rupees, or $190. The JioBook, which also ships bundled with several Jio apps and Microsoft 365 services, has been in the works for at least two years. The company quietly demonstrated it at Indian Mobile Congress trade show event last month. JioBook’s specifications, as you would have guessed, are not very high-end. It sports a 11.6-inch HD display with a screen resolution of 1366 x 768. It is powered by Qualcomm’s 64-bit, 2GHz octa-core processor and 2GB of RAM. But the laptop ships with an embedded Jio sim card, enabling out of the box support for Jio 4G LTE connectivity. The firm says on its store page that the JioBook features up to 128GB of flash storage and can last up to eight hours on a single a charge. The laptop is the latest of a series of businesses Reliance, the Indian conglomerate and the parent firm of Jio Platforms, has entered in recent years. The firm, led by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, entered the telecom business six years ago and quickly became the top service provider in the country, thanks to the network’s cutrate data and voice tariffs. Jio Platforms, which secured over $20 billion in funding from over 10 investors in 2020 including Meta and Google, has also launched feature phones and smartphones in the past half decade. The company’s JioPhone Next smartphone went on sale last year. Jio Platforms has worked closely with Google to develop a custom Android operating system for the smartphone. The company appears to have ambitious plans with the JioBook. Reuters, which scooped the laptop’s imminent unveiling plan earlier this month, said Reliance plans to sell “hundreds of thousands” of units by March. Jio did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Google is finally making Chrome tablet-friendly • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 19, 2022Posted in Android, Apps, Chrome, Google, tabletNo Comments

After ignoring the app experience on Android tablets for years, Google appears increasingly focused on turning things around. Earlier this year, the search giant introduced Android 12L, which brought an improved interface and multitasking experience to tablets and foldable. At the developer conference Google IO in May, it promised to finetune over 20 of its own apps for the tablet experience. Now the search giant is beginning to deliver on that pledge, starting with the browser Chrome. Google has rolled out an update to Chrome for Android tablets that introduces new features such as a side-by-side view for improved tab navigation and the ability to drag and drop information out of Chrome. The side-by-side view will help users navigate between tabs by swiping across the address bar (as shown in the gif below). This is helpful when you can’t really read tab names in settings such as split-screen. Image Credits: Google The drag-and-drop functionality allows users to move around links, images and text from Chrome to apps such as Gmail, Keep and Photos. Watch it in action in the gif below. Google introduced a similar drag-and-drop support for apps such as Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slide and Keep on Android tablets in July. Image Credits: Google What’s more, the refined Chrome for Android tablets adds a grid layout for tabs to make it easier for users to switch between them — instead of having to traverse through the horizontal line of tabs. The revamp also allows users to see large-sized previews of currently open tabs when they swipe up from the bottom of the screen. This feature is already available on Chrome’s smartphone app through the tab switcher. Image Credits: Google The company said its tab groups feature — first introduced for Chrome for desktop in 2020 — is also “coming soon” to Chrome for tablets. “No matter if you prefer using a mouse, a stylus, or your finger, the Chrome on Android experience should be as intuitive and familiar on tablets as on your computer or phone. We’re constantly exploring new ways to make it easier and more enjoyable to use Chrome on your Android tablet — whether it’s easier navigation with the visual tab grid, switching to desktop mode, or finding the tab quickly,” said Lola Adams, Product Manager, Chrome, in a statement. Google is slowly improving the Android tablet experience through app refreshes and software updates as it prepares to launch its own Pixel tablet next year.