Articles about Mobile App

Facebook's track record with privacy is a rocky one, but the idea of giving up some personal data is seen by many users as an acceptable price to pay for using the social network. But an investigation by Privacy International has found that many Android apps are sharing data with Facebook about people regardless of whether they are logged into their Facebook account... or even have a Facebook account at all.

The findings of the investigation raise questions about Facebook's transparency when it comes to handling user (and non-user) data, and the privacy implications of profiling by the social networking behemoth -- particularly in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

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While it has been possible for some time to give iOS apps to others as a gift, you have not been able to do the same with in-app purchases.

Now, however, if you want to buy in-app content as a Christmas present for friends or family (what greater sign of affection, eh?!) you can do so. Apple has changed its App Store Review Guidelines giving developers the option to enable the gifting of in-app purchases.

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For those who like simple chronology, Twitter's insistence on delivering tweets in an algorithm powered order that is seemingly random has long been a source of frustration. Today, the social site launches a new way to switch between reverse chronological order or the algorithm-driven "top tweets" ordering.

To allow for easy switching between the two modes, Twitter is rolling out a new "sparkle" button to its mobile app. The change is being made available to iOS users first, but Android owners will not be far behind.

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The end of the year approaches and so the "best of" lists start to emerge. Jumping on the bandwagon is Apple, providing us with a lengthy list of the best apps, games, music, podcasts, TV shows, and just about everything else digital you can think of.

The charts have not been compiled by simply calculating which apps have proved most popular with user. Apple describes it as "an invariable list of the who's who and what's what from the past year" which is a combination of both "top charts and selects from our editors". Are your favorites featured?

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Instagram has announced the rollout of Close Friends, a feature that makes it possible to create a list of people with whom you'd like to share Stories. This is very different to the current approach which sees Stories shared with everyone.

The feature has been beta tested for nearly a year and a half and is now ready for primetime. Rolling out to iOS and Androind in the coming days, the new feature will be welcomed by those who had concerns about privacy on Instagram.

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We're approaching the end of 2018, so it's only natural that companies take a look back over the year and reflect on what was great about it. Not one to miss out on such things, Google is launching its first-ever User's Choice Awards and is asking for your votes.

Google users are invited to cast their vote for what they believe is the best app of 2018, and what is the best game of 2018. Want your voice to be heard? Now is the time to cast your vote.

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It can't have escaped your attention that -- in the US at least -- holiday season is just around the corner. With Thanksgiving comes Black Friday and other sales, and Google is getting in on the action with a series of discounts in the Play Store.

There are great savings to be made on games and apps, ebooks and audiobooks for cyberweek, and if you're in the mood for a movie on Thanksgiving itself, you can rent any title for just $0.99.

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It is a little while -- over three months, in fact -- since Facebook said that it was planning to launch a tool that would give users some insight into the amount of time they spent using the social network. This tool is now rolling out.

Unimaginatively called Your Time On Facebook, the tool offers a dashboard that gives a very basic overview of how long you spend using Facebook each day. But going beyond this, it can also be used to set daily reminders to help you to cut down your usage. Trying to kick your Facebook habit? Maybe this could help.

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In early January 2019, you will no longer be able to receive SMS notifications about Google Calendar events. The change will affect Android and iOS users.

While Google does not give an explicit reason for killing off SMS notifications -- other than seemingly not wanting to offer too many means of receiving notifications -- the company says that users should not notice any difference because of in-app notifications.

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Google recently rolled out a floating keyboard option to Gboard, and now the company has introduced another new feature -- AI-driven suggestions for GIFs, emoji and stickers.

The move sees Google acknowledging that we increasingly communicate with images rather than words. Or, as the company puts it, it's a feature designed "for those of us who just can't even without the perfect GIF".

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Cloudflare has just made it a whole lot easier to hide your mobile browsing from your ISP -- and access content that might otherwise be unavailable. The company has launched a 1.1.1.1 app for smartphone users, making it incredibly easy to switch between DNS services with a couple of taps; what amounts to a free VPN tool.

Earlier in the year, Cloudflare launched its 1.1.1.1 DNS service to bring privacy and speed, but it was a little off-putting to users unfamiliar with tinkering with such settings. With the launch of 1.1.1.1 for iOS and Android, the process is much, much simpler -- and the app and the service itself are free.

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Vine may have closed down a couple of years ago, but it has certainly not been forgotten. There has been eager anticipation of its replacement, and disappointment when this was delayed earlier in the year.

Originally said to be named V2, the successor to Vine has now been revealed to be called Byte. Vine co-creator Dom Hofmann made the revelation on Twitter, adding that Byte is due to launch in the first half of 2019.

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It's less than a year since Google launched Files Go, its first attempt at a file manager app for Android. The primary aim of the app is to help users to free up space on their phones, and today Google announces that it not only has a new name, but also a new look.

Files Go has been rebranded Files by Google, and the updated version of the app is starting to roll out now.

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Viber has rolled out a feature that users have been begging for for some time -- the ability to edit sent messages.

While Viber may not be quite as popular as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, it has millions of users around the world. At long last these users now have the ability to correct typo after sending a message, just as can be done in a handful of other messaging tools.

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After hitting the headlines for falling victim to a hack attack, and then the privacy issues surround its Portal devices, Facebook will be hoping that the rollout of a sleeker, sexier, simplified version of Messenger will do something to get disgruntled users back on side.

The social networking giant has launched Facebook Messenger 4, a neater and tidier version of its messaging app. As well as clearing out the clutter, there is the promise of a dark mode in the future.

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