Articles about Google Play

UC Browser -- the Android web browser with more than half a billion downloads to its name, and which has proved particularly popular in India -- has been pulled from Google Play.

In addition to download from the Play Store, the browser came preinstalled on a number of handsets, and it gained popularity thanks to its speedy performance and low system requirements. But the fact that it "used 'Misleading' and 'Unhealthy' methods of promotion" led to it being nixed.

Continue reading →

Google is launching a crackdown on apps that misuse Accessibility Services, threatening to remove them from the Play Store. The API was created specifically to help users with various disabilities, but developers have latched onto it as a way of increasing the functionality of their apps.

The likes of Tasker, LastPass and Universal Copy are among the titles that make use of the Accessibility Services API, and they have been warned to either explain why they are using the API, stop using the API, or unpublish their app.

Continue reading →

This should not come as a surprise to anyone reading this wonderful website, but here at BetaNews we love beta software. The prospect of trying new features and changes before they make it into production gets us pretty excited. That's why, for instance, we check out every Windows 10 preview build we can install -- thanks, Microsoft!

I also have to thank Google, this time around for feeding our addiction of betas on the mobile side. Many major developers have embraced this option, opening programs so that enthusiasts can help improve their favorite apps. Netflix is the latest to (re)join the list.

Continue reading →

An APK teardown of version 8.4 of the Google Play Store app shows that there could be some exciting changes on the horizon for Android users.

Perhaps the most interesting revelation is that Google appears to be on the verge of introducing audiobooks to the store. This means that you may soon be able to ditch the likes of Audible and buy your audiobooks direct from Google -- and there could also be free audiobooks! The teardown also shows that there are new notification and app update options to come as well.

Continue reading →

Developers who want to sell apps or offer in-app subscriptions on Google Play have to give 30 percent of the revenue up. It's the cost of doing business on Google's popular app store -- and the same goes for the App Store and Microsoft Store as well.

However, in a move that mirrors Apple's policy change last year, Google will soon take a lower cut from developers who retain subscribers for more than a year.

Continue reading →

As well as unveiling a new bug bounty program for select Android apps, Google has also announced a number of changes to its Play Store. The first is the introduction of Instant Apps to Google Play, giving users the chance to try out apps without even having to install them.

The idea is to give people the opportunity to test out apps almost immediately without having to wait for them to download -- ideal for anyone with limited data or a slow connection. Instant Apps are essentially streamed to devices meaning they can be running in seconds.

Continue reading →

Google has started -- just as OnePlus has -- to unbundle many of its core apps and make them available through the Play Store. The latest candidate to be stripped out of Android and give a Store release is its battery app.

Many people have been pleased to see such unbundling, as it makes it far easier for Google to release updates for individual components without having to wait for the next big Android update to roll out. But while many Android users will be happy to see the arrival of Device Health Services (as the battery app is named), it's not good news for everyone.

Continue reading →

A few years ago, the only way you could get updates for core apps on your Android device was through operating system updates. Then, manufacturers realized that it would be much easier -- for everyone involved -- to have new versions distributed through Google Play or their own app store.

OnePlus has reached the same conclusion, and today it announces that updates for Community, Gallery, Launcher and Weather will be rolled out through Google Play, in what is referred to as "Individual Application Update."

Continue reading →

Some Android users have spotted a change in the Play Store. Since time immemorial, Google has shown star ratings in app listings and search results -- because that’s one of the ways in which users decide what to download. But for some people this has changed.

Rather than a star rating, apps are now listed with their download sizes. For the Android user who is worried about running out of space this is arguably a useful change, but it's not something that most people will regard as a step in the right direction.

Continue reading →

Just as there is quite a lot of interest in jailbreaking iPhones to allow for the installation of unofficial software, on Android there are a lot of users who root their handsets. If you ever wondered just how many people were into rooting, the success of SuperSU gives you an idea.

While this is not a tool for rooting your smartphone -- this is something that's easily achieved on most handsets using various tools and online instructions -- SuperSU is a valuable addition to the software toolkit of anyone who has gone down the rooting route. As an indication of the popularity of rooting, SuperSU has now been download 100 million times.

Continue reading →

Through the use of an advertising software development kit contained in 500 apps on the Google Play Store, cybercriminals were able to spy on users and even infect their mobile devices with malware.

That's according to security firm Lookout, which discovered that the Android apps in question all had the lgexin ad SDK built into them which gave unauthorized third parties access to user devices.

Continue reading →

App security is undeniably an issue for Android users, particularly those who choose to install apps from outside of Google Play. Even apps that are housed in the main store are not immune to security issues, but those from other sources are rather more risky.

With Android O, Google has ditched "Allow unknown sources" -- the setting that could be toggled to allow for the installation of non-Play apps. Instead, there is a new "Install unknown apps" permission, and Google thinks this offers more control and greater security.

Continue reading →

In a time when people are more concerned about privacy than ever, security tools such as VPNs are proving increasingly popular. Kaspersky Lab recently released a VPN tool for Android, and reviewers are voicing concerns about the permissions required by the app.

Kaspersky Secure Connection: VPN service has a reasonable overall review score at time of writing, but the lower scores are highly critical of what are seen as privacy-invading permission requirements.

Continue reading →

Opera Max -- the free data-saving and VPN-like tool from the team behind the Opera web browser -- is being killed off.

The app has been removed from Google Play with immediate effect, and there will be no more updates. Opera is not really giving a reason for the sudden decision other that the fact that Opera Max had "a substantially different value proposition than our browser products."

Continue reading →

Security researchers from Lookout are warning about raft of spyware-infected apps that have been found in Google Play. Seemingly connected to Iraq, more than a thousand apps hve been found to include SonicSpy spyware.

The spyware is embedded in a variety of legitimate-looking apps, such as messaging tools based on Telegram. One such example is an app called Soniac which was found to be capable of not only recording audio and retrieving contacts, but also taking photos and gathering phone logs. Lookout warns that SonicSpy is sneaky, and tries to hide from users to avoid detection.

Continue reading →