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Android Archive

Archives for September 2024

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
“Google did not request that Samsung create their Auto Blocker feature.”

That’s according to Google’s head of Android security, David Kleidermacher, who is publicly pushing back on the claims made by Epic Games in its new lawsuit against Google and Samsung.

Earlier, Samsung said it plans to “vigorously contest Epic Game’s baseless claims.”

That’s why Google offers its own safety features such as Google Play Protect, which checks for harmful apps on a user’s device, regardless of where the app was downloaded. Android device makers are free to innovate and design additional safety features for their devices. To make this about access to a game is deliberately misleading; this is about user safety. And Epic’s lawsuit puts their corporate interests above user protections.
Screenshot: @daveksecure (X)
Sean Hollister
Sean Hollister
Samsung won’t confirm or deny whether it worked with Google on Auto Blocker — or whether it actually scans for threats.

Google, too, wouldn’t confirm or deny whether it worked with Samsung on the feature, which is now the target of a new Epic Games lawsuit against both companies.

Instead, Google tells The Verge that it’s “a meritless lawsuit”; Samsung tells us it plans to “vigorously contest Epic Game’s baseless claims.”

Umar Shakir
Umar Shakir
Google’s testing a new call answer screen on Pixel phones.

Instead of a swipe up to answer screen, Android Authority reports that an alternate screen found in a recent APK features a decline button on the left and an answer button on the right, resembling Apple’s iPhone setup.

Some Android OEMs like Samsung use a similar screen (with the answer button on the left), but so far, not Google.

swipe up to answer, swipe down to decline screen, and another screen with red decline and green answer buttons.
Left: The standard swipe up \ down answer screen, Right: The Pixel test Decline \ Answer buttons.
Image: Aamir Siddiqui / Android Authority / iDeepak_Sharma
Sean Hollister
Sean Hollister
Tim Sweeney says his Epic lawsuits are all about freeing the youth:

We want our kids to grow up in a world that’s better than this one. I grew up in an awesome world for developers and opportunity, the early days of Apple II computers and PCs, and anybody growing up, coming of age in this industry right now, is best case going to be an Apple and Google serf. That has to change. That must change.

Not surprising to hear the man behind “Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite” say this, but it really does encapsulate his war with the tech industry. More on the latest lawsuit here.

Sean Hollister
Sean Hollister
The Epic Games Store has crossed 10 million installs on mobile in its first 1.5 months.

Not as fast as Epic might have hoped — it’s targeting 100 million by the end of the year — but CEO Tim Sweeney tells journalists that goal is still “totally achievable.”

Meanwhile, it’s suing Samsung and Google over the “Auto Blocker” feature that, by default, stops users from installing that store on new Samsung phones.

Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
The Simpsons: Tapped Out taps out.

After 12 years, today EA announced that its free-to-play city building mobile game is shutting down. D’oh!

We have made the difficult decision to sunset Tapped Out. In-app purchases have been disabled, and the game will be removed from the app stores October 31, 2024. You may continue playing until January 24th, 2025, at which point servers will be turned off and TSTO will not be accessible.

A screenshot of The Simpsons: Tapped Out mobile game showing a small section Springfield.
The mobile game let players build their own version of Springfield with locations and characters from the long running animated series.
Image: EA
Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
The Wear OS 5 update process didn’t go well for my Pixel Watch 2.

I forced the update after it came out yesterday but rebooted into a mostly blank screen saying “add tile,” which also happened to a few other people who posted about problems on Google’s support forum and Reddit.

After a fastboot reset (video walkthrough here), I was up and running, but you may want to hold off on this one.

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
The Google TV Streamer is showing up on store shelves early.

Google’s $99.99 Chromecast successor isn’t scheduled to launch until the 24th, but 9to5Google points out people in the UK, Germany, and Canada (below) who have already brought them home.

If you’re wondering how much storage space is free out of 32GB, one person reported it starts with 26GB available.

Ford’s new Digital Experience brings Android and Apple into balance

Ford has a good thing going with its next-gen infotainment system — whether you use CarPlay or not.

Umar Shakir
Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Now you’ll have no excuse to forget a birthday.

Google will let you make birthday events directly in Google Calendar, starting on Android and coming to web and iOS “in the future.”

Screenshots of the birthday events in Google Calendar.
Image: Google