Tag: Android

WhatsApp bug causing some Android devices to falsely report microphone access

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San Francisco: Meta-owned WhatsApp and Google have acknowledged a bug that seems to be allowing WhatsApp to access phones’ microphones unnecessarily on some Android devices.
The issue first surfaced a month ago, but it received renewed attention after a Twitter engineer mentioned it in a post boosted by Elon Musk, reports Engadget.
Twitter engineer Foad Dabiri recently shared an image that raised concerns about the app’s privacy practices. The image appeared to show that the app’s microphone was continuously running in the background, even when not in use.

Dabiri tweeted a screenshot from the Privacy Dashboard on his Android device, which revealed how frequently the app accessed his microphone and camera.
“WhatsApp has been using the microphone in the background, while I was asleep and since I woke up at 6 a.m. (and that’s just a part of the timeline!) What’s going on?,” he tweeted.
Later, Musk retweeted Dabiri’s post, saying “WhatsApp cannot be trusted”.
According to a statement shared on Twitter by WhatsApp, the problem was caused by an Android-related issue rather than inappropriate microphone access by the messaging app.
“We believe this is a bug on Android that mis-attributes information in their Privacy Dashboard and have asked Google to investigate and remediate,” the company said.

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#WhatsApp #bug #causing #Android #devices #falsely #report #microphone #access
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 10, 2023
Samsung Galaxy M14 5G (Smoky Teal, 4GB, 128GB Storage) | 50MP Triple Cam | 6000 mAh Battery | 5nm Octa-Core Processor | Android 13 | Without Charger

Price: [price_with_discount]
(as of [price_update_date] – Details)

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Samsung Galaxy M14 5G (Smoky Teal, 4GB, 128GB Storage) | 50MP Triple Cam | 6000 mAh Battery | 5nm Octa-Core Processor | Android 13 | Without Charger
50MP+2MP+2MP Triple camera setup- True 50MP (F1.8) main camera + 2MP (F2.4) + 2MP (F2.4)| 13MP (F2.0) front camera
Superfast 5G with 13 5G Bands, Powerful Exynos 1330 Octa Core 2.4GH 5nm processor with Letest Android 13,One UI Core 5.0,
6000mAH lithium-ion battery, 1 year manufacturer warranty for device and 6 months manufacturer warranty for in-box accessories including batteries from the date of purchase
Get up to 2 times of Android Updates & 4 times of Security Updates with Samsung Galaxy M14 5G.

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#Samsung #Galaxy #M14 #Smoky #Teal #4GB #128GB #Storage #50MP #Triple #Cam #mAh #Battery #5nm #OctaCore #Processor #Android #Charger

May 5, 2023
Google pays entire Rs 1,338 cr penalty to CCI in Android case

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New Delhi: In probably the first case of a Big Tech giant paying a penalty to the Indian regulators as the government aims to bring a new Digital India Act, Google has paid the entire penalty amount of Rs 1,337.76 crore imposed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in the Android case.
Reliable sources told IANS on Tuesday that the entire penalty amount has been deposited in the Consolidated Fund of India, within the 30-day deadline given by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in its order.
The Indian market regulator had imposed the penalty on Google in October 2022 for allegedly exploiting its dominant position in the Android market.

Earlier this year, Google announced to comply with the CCI’s directives for Android.
“The CCI’s recent directives for Android and Play require us to make significant changes for India, and we’ve informed the CCI of how we will be complying with their directives,” Google had said in a statement.
“We’re updating the Android compatibility requirements to introduce changes for partners to build non-compatible or forked variants,” said Google.
Through user choice billing, developers can offer users the option to choose an alternative billing system alongside Google Play’s billing system when purchasing in-app digital content.
The changes came as a Supreme Court bench said that the findings by the CCI cannot be said to be “without jurisdiction or with manifest error” and affirmed the NCLAT order, declining to grant interim relief to Google.

The bench directed the NCLAT to dispose of Google’s appeal by March 31, and granted Google seven days to deposit 10 per cent of the Rs 1,337.76 crore penalty imposed by the CCI.
Google had alleged that the CCI copy-pasted parts of a European court order without examining associated evidence in India.
The CCI has also imposed a penalty of Rs 936.44 crore on Google in a separate case for abusing its dominant position with respect to its Play Store policies.
In response to Google’s announcement of implementing its new Google Play payments policy, the Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) had expressed deep concern over the policy change and has demanded that the new policies must be put on hold, since Google charging a nearly 30 per cent service fee on app developers will prove to be a significant blow to the Indian startup ecosystem.
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#Google #pays #entire #penalty #CCI #Android #case
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 2, 2023
Nokia C12 Pro Android Smartphone, Dual SIM, All Day Battery Life, 4GB RAM, 2GB RAM + 2GB Virtual RAM, Android 12 Go Edition | Cyan

Price: [price_with_discount]
(as of [price_update_date] – Details)

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Nokia C12 Pro Android Smartphone, Dual SIM, All Day Battery Life, 4GB RAM, 2GB RAM + 2GB Virtual RAM, Android 12 Go Edition | Cyan
6.3″ HD+ screen
Android 12 Go Edition with 2 years of quarterly security updates

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#Nokia #C12 #Pro #Android #Smartphone #Dual #SIM #Day #Battery #Life #4GB #RAM #2GB #RAM #2GB #Virtual #RAM #Android #Edition #Cyan

April 23, 2023
Nokia C12 Pro Android Smartphone, Dual SIM, All Day Battery Life, 5GB RAM, 3GB RAM + 2GB Virtual RAM, Android 12 Go Edition | Mint

Price: [price_with_discount]
(as of [price_update_date] – Details)

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Nokia C12 Pro Android Smartphone, Dual SIM, All Day Battery Life, 5GB RAM, 3GB RAM + 2GB Virtual RAM, Android 12 Go Edition | Mint
6.3″ HD+ screen
5GB RAM with 3GB RAM + 2GB Virtual RAM
Android 12 Go Edition with 2 years of quarterly security updates

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#Nokia #C12 #Pro #Android #Smartphone #Dual #SIM #Day #Battery #Life #5GB #RAM #3GB #RAM #2GB #Virtual #RAM #Android #Edition #Mint

April 17, 2023
Android malware infects 60 Google Play apps with 100 mn downloads

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San Francisco: Google Play has been infiltrated by a new Android malware called ‘Goldoson’, which has been discovered in 60 legitimate apps with a combined total of 100 million downloads.
The malicious malware component is integrated into a third-party library that the developers inadvertently incorporated into all sixty apps, reports BleepingComputer.
The Android malware, discovered by McAfee’s research team, is capable of collecting a range of sensitive data, including information on the user’s installed apps, WiFi and Bluetooth-connected devices, and GPS locations.

Additionally, it can perform ad fraud by clicking ads in the background without the user’s consent, according to the report.
When a user runs a Goldoson-containing app, the library registers the device and obtains its configuration from an obfuscated remote server.
The setup specifies the data-stealing and ad-clicking functions Goldoson should do on the infected device and how frequently.
Moreover, the report said that the data collection mechanism is commonly set to activate every two days, transmitting a list of installed apps, geographical position history, MAC addresses of devices connected via Bluetooth and WiFi, and other information to the C2 server.
The amount of data collected is determined by the permissions granted to the infected app during installation as well as the Android version.

Although Android 11 later are better protected against arbitrary data collection, researchers discovered that Goldoson had enough rights to acquire sensitive data in 10 per cent of the apps even in newer versions of the OS, the report mentioned.
Ad income is generated by loading HTML code and injecting it into a customised, hidden WebView, and then using that to execute numerous URL visits.
There is no indication of this action on the victim’s device.
In January, Google’s Threat Analysis Group terminated thousands of accounts associated with a group known as ‘Dragonbridge’ or ‘Spamouflage Dragon’ that disseminated pro-Chinese disinformation on various platforms.
According to the tech giant, Dragonbridge gets new Google Accounts from bulk account sellers, and at times they have even used accounts previously used by financially motivated actors repurposed for posting disinformation videos and blogs.
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#Android #malware #infects #Google #Play #apps #downloads
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 17, 2023
Microsoft adds AI-powered Bing to SwiftKey app on iOS, Android

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New Delhi: Microsoft has announced the addition of AI-powered Bing capabilities to the SwiftKey app (a third-party keyboard) on iOS and Android.
This new addition will allow users to chat with the AI chatbot directly from their mobile keyboard and search for things without having to switch between apps.
SwiftKey has been part of the Microsoft family since 2016.

“Bing integrates in three major ways – Search, Chat, and Tone. The update is available today. Once you’ve got the update, you’ll see the Bing icon above the keyboard. From there you can click on the exact feature you’d like to use; Chat, Tone, or Search,” Microsoft said in a blhttps://www.siasat.com/linkedin-introduces-new-ways-to-verify-identity-work-2568179/ogpost.
With the Chat functionality, users can access the new Bing on the go for more detailed queries, while, with the Tone feature, users can communicate more effectively by using AI to customise their in-progress text to fit any situation.
Moreover, the Search functionality will let users quickly search the web from their keyboard without switching apps.
“These new features in SwiftKey are accessible in all markets where the new Bing is available; anyone can use Search now while accessing Tone and Chat requires that you sign into your Microsoft Account that has been approved to access the new Bing preview,” the company said.
Further, the tech giant introduced the “translator functionality” in the mobile Bing app, which will offer alternative masculine and feminine translations when translating from English to Spanish, French, or Italian.

This feature will allow users to choose the gendered translation that best fits their context and is helpful for well-intentioned speakers of all proficiency levels.
The company also expanded Bing access to Skype so that everyone in a group chat can now chat with the new Bing.
Only one person in the group needs to have access to the preview.
This means as a group you can use the new Bing from within the Skype app just like you’d use the new Bing on a desktop; you can use it to, for example, settle a debate, help plan a group trip, or find a restaurant for you all to meet at in person, according to the company.
The new Bing is now also available via the Microsoft Start app too, for users who have cleared the waitlist.
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#Microsoft #adds #AIpowered #Bing #SwiftKey #app #iOS #Android
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 14, 2023
WhatsApp’s new feature to add, edit contacts within app on Android

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San Francisco: Meta-owned Whatsapp has introduced a new feature – “manage contacts within the app”, allowing users to add and edit contacts without leaving the app on Android.
The ability to add and edit contacts within WhatsApp for Android is now available for some beta testers using the latest beta version, and it will roll out to even more users in the coming days, according to WABetaInfo.
Users can check the availability of the feature on their devices by opening the contact list within WhatsApp and selecting the “New Contact” option.

If the “New contact” option is available, it means the feature is available and they can add contacts without leaving WhatsApp.
Moreover, users can also add unknown numbers to their contacts list when they reach others on WhatsApp, without switching to the contacts app, said the report.
Meanwhile, WhatsApp is reportedly developing a new feature, which will allow users to share their status updates to Facebook stories without leaving the app.
Earlier, users could share status updates to Facebook stories, but they had to go through the extra step of manually sharing the update each time they posted something new.
But now, due to this new feature, the process may be automatic for certain status updates users choose, when the option is enabled.

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#WhatsApps #feature #add #edit #contacts #app #Android
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 9, 2023
Android beta users to have ‘lock chat’ feature on WhatsApp

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San Francisco: Meta-owned messaging platform WhatsApp is reportedly working on a new “Lock chat” feature for Android beta which will allow users to lock chats and keep them hidden.
This new feature will improve the users’ privacy as it will help users to lock their most private chats within the chat’s contact or group info, reports WABetaInfo.
When a chat is locked, it can only be accessed using the user’s fingerprint or passcode, making it almost impossible for anyone else to open the chat.
Also, if someone attempts to access the user’s phone and fails to provide the needed authentication, they will be asked to clear the chat to open it.
This feature also helps to keep media private by making sure that photos and videos sent in a locked chat are not automatically saved to the device’s gallery.
The ability to lock chats is currently under development and is expected to be released in a future update of the application, the report said.
Meanwhile, on Friday, it was reported that the messaging platform was rolling out a new text editor experience to some beta testers on Android beta.

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#Android #beta #users #lock #chat #feature #WhatsApp
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 1, 2023
WhatsApp update: New ‘audio chats’ feature on Android soon

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San Francisco: Meta-owned WhatsApp is reportedly working on a new feature called “audio chats”, which will be available within conversations in a future update of the application on Android.
According to WABetaInfo, a new waveforms icon will be added to the chat header, allowing users to initiate audio chats, plus users will see a red button for ending ongoing calls.
As the waveform icon signifies the potential for real-time audio visualisation, the report states that it is likely that the space above the chat header could be reserved for displaying audio waveforms.
It will provide a minimalistic interface that allows users to view audio waveforms while navigating between their conversations.
Moreover, the report mentioned that there is not much information available about how this feature will work as it is still under development.
Meanwhile, Meta has introduced a new WhatsApp application for Windows that loads faster and features an interface similar to the mobile version of the app.
Users can now host group video calls with up to eight people and audio calls with up to 32 people.
The tech giant has also made improvements, including faster device linking and better syncing across devices, as well as new features like link previews and stickers.

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#WhatsApp #update #audio #chats #feature #Android
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 26, 2023