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Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Google Play Store 7.8.15 Prepares for Instant Apps Support

Google Instant Apps is a feature that allows users to "stream" parts of existing Android applications so they can try the app out in its native look without having to install the app. Instant Apps requires small modifications from the developers' end, but once approved by Google to implement these changes these applications will be able to reach a wider audience as users share organically share links to their friends and family. Instant Apps was initially introduced during Google I/O 2016 but it was only until January of this year that a few devices and a few apps could take advantage of Instant Apps.

However, with the release of Google Play Store v7.8.15, Instant Apps may start to see a wider release. In an APK teardown of this release, we've discovered new strings and an Activity that will allow users to opt in to Instant Apps.

Although an APK teardown can often predict features that may arrive in a future update of an application, it is possible that any of the features we mention here may not make it in a future release. This is because these features are currently unimplemented in the live build and may be pulled at any time by Google in a future build.

Play Store 7.8.15 APK Teardown

As usual, we can find evidence of new features by seeing what strings have been added to the APK file. In this case, we can see that the Google Play Store will add support for choosing which of your Google accounts to use with Instant Apps.

Play Store 7.8.15 Instant Apps

    <string name="instant_app_settings_menu_help">Help</string>  <string name="instant_apps_settings_change_account_dialog_cancel">cancel</string>  <string name="instant_apps_settings_change_account_dialog_description">All instant apps and associated app data, including app permissions, will be removed for the current account.</string>  <string name="instant_apps_settings_change_account_dialog_ok">change account</string>  <string name="instant_apps_settings_change_account_dialog_title">Change account?</string>  <string name="instant_apps_settings_description">You can use apps without installing them. Choose a Google Account to use for app sign-in and payments.</string>  <string name="instant_apps_settings_open_links_dialog_cancel">cancel</string>  <string name="instant_apps_settings_open_links_dialog_description">For this feature to work also turn on Open links in apps</string>  <string name="instant_apps_settings_open_links_dialog_ok">turn on now</string>  <string name="instant_apps_settings_open_links_dialog_title">Turn on required setting</string>  <string name="instant_apps_settings_opt_out_dialog_cancel">cancel</string>  <string name="instant_apps_settings_opt_out_dialog_description">All instant apps and associated app data, including app permissions, will be removed for the current account.</string>  <string name="instant_apps_settings_opt_out_dialog_ok">turn off</string>  <string name="instant_apps_settings_opt_out_dialog_title">Turn off Instant Apps?</string>  <string name="instant_apps_settings_title">Instant Apps account</string>  <string name="instant_apps_settings_turn_instant_apps_off">None</string>    <string name="debug_run_instant_apps_hygiene_summary">Immediately trigger Instant Apps Hygiene service</string>  <string name="debug_run_instant_apps_hygiene_title">Run Instant Apps Hygiene</string>    <string name="publisher_name_instant_app">Instant App</string>

Judging by what's in these strings, Instant Apps will be an opt out process. Publishers whose apps support the Instant Apps service may show a special indicator in the Play Store that their app supports the service, too.

In addition, there are several XML files within the APK that define how the Instant Apps settings screen will appear to the user. These files are named instant_apps_settings_account_row.xml, instant_apps_settings.xml, and instant_apps_settings_menu.xml.

instant_apps_settings_account_row.xml
instant_apps_settings.xml
instant_apps_settings_menu.xml

  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>  <LinearLayout android:orientation="horizontal" android:background="?android:selectableItemBackground" android:paddingLeft="@dimen/instant_apps_settings_account_list_row_padding_left" android:paddingTop="@dimen/instant_apps_settings_account_list_row_padding_top" android:paddingRight="0.0dip" android:paddingBottom="@dimen/instant_apps_settings_account_list_row_padding_bottom" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:paddingStart="@dimen/instant_apps_settings_account_list_row_padding_left" android:paddingEnd="0.0dip"  xmlns:android="http://ift.tt/nIICcg">  <TextView android:textAppearance="@android:style/TextAppearance.Material.Subhead" android:id="@id/account_name" android:layout_width="0.0dip" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_weight="1.0" android:labelFor="@id/account_selected" />  <RadioButton android:id="@id/account_selected" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" style="@android:style/Widget.Material.CompoundButton.RadioButton" />  </LinearLayout>

  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>  <LinearLayout android:orientation="vertical" android:id="@id/instant_apps_settings_layout" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="fill_parent" android:divider="?android:dividerHorizontal"  xmlns:android="http://ift.tt/nIICcg" xmlns:app="http://ift.tt/GEGVYd">  <android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar android:theme="@style/ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.ActionBar" android:id="@id/instant_apps_settings_toolbar" android:background="?colorPrimary" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="?actionBarSize" app:popupTheme="@style/ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Light" />  <android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView android:id="@id/account_list" android:paddingTop="@dimen/instant_apps_settings_account_list_padding_top" android:paddingBottom="@dimen/instant_apps_settings_account_list_padding_bottom" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:paddingStart="?android:listPreferredItemPaddingStart" android:paddingEnd="?android:listPreferredItemPaddingEnd" app:layoutManager="android.support.v7.widget.LinearLayoutManager" />  <TextView android:id="@id/instant_apps_settings_description" android:paddingTop="@dimen/instant_apps_settings_description_padding_top" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:text="@string/instant_apps_settings_description" android:drawablePadding="@dimen/instant_apps_settings_description_drawable_padding" android:paddingStart="@dimen/instant_apps_settings_description_padding_start" android:paddingEnd="@dimen/instant_apps_settings_description_padding_end" />  </LinearLayout>

  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>  <menu  xmlns:android="http://ift.tt/nIICcg" xmlns:finsky="http://ift.tt/GEGVYd">>  <item android:icon="@drawable/ic_help" android:id="@id/action_help" android:title="@string/instant_app_settings_menu_help" finsky:showAsAction="ifRoom" />  </menu>

Finally, since the Instant Apps Activity itself is accessible if you manually launch the right intent, we were able to start it to see what it would look like. Here's a screenshot of the Instant Apps account selection screen where you can pick which account will store app data and make payments associated with Instant Apps.

I'll continue digging around and update this article if I find anything interesting in the live build, or through an APK teardown. If you are looking for this latest release of the Google Play Store app, you can download it right now over at APKMirror. Follow our APK Teardown tag for more articles like this!

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Play Store Search Suggestions appear to be more widely rolling out

Back in December last year, a single user tipped AndroidPolice that Google was beginning to test search suggestions in the Google Play Store. At the time, however, only this single user was seeing this server side change. However, recently this feature appears to be rolling out more widely, as multiple members of our team are now seeing search suggestions in the Play Store.

Tapping on any of these buttons will add the term to your search query, allowing you to narrow down existing results. There are more search terms that can be access if one swipes to the left, but presumably Google is ranking search terms by popularity since myself and other members of the XDA team are all seeing the same search suggestions when we search for the same thing. Once a search suggestion (or multiple) is chosen, the green block turns white and displays an X that can be tapped to remove the search term from your query.

For those of you who use Google's image search regularly, these search suggestions may be familiar to you. These suggestions can be useful when you have a general idea of what you're looking for, but aren't sure exactly of what to enter into the search bar. Given the millions of apps on the Play Store, any enhancements to the way we search through it is certainly welcome. We just hope that eventually the Play Store adds proper search filters to help out those of us who know exactly what we're looking for.

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New OxygenOS Open Betas bring Dialer Swipe Gestures, Action Bar for Messages and Settings, and more

Another month, another open beta release: OnePlus has just released a new Open Beta for the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T. This Open Beta is labeled as Open Beta 15 for the OnePlus 3, and Open Beta 6 for the OnePlus 3T, although the change log for both devices is the same. The download links are different, though, so it's a good idea to download the correct build for your device.

OnePlus details the following changelog for Beta 15/6:

UI optimizations for Messages, Settings and Contacts
New dialer and incoming call interface – OnePlus has created a new answering mechanic to go along with the 'refreshed UI' mentioned above. Now, swipe down to answer and swipe up to reject an incoming call
New action bar for Messages and Settings – Collapsible and expandable action bar (with more to come in the future)
Optimized high power usage notifications – Optimized the system which notifies you when apps are using a lot of battery
Bluetooth optimizations
Night mode optimizations
Bug fixes

This change log is over the previous Beta 14/5, which brought several fixes and optimizations for Bluetooth, Night Mode, and the Launcher over Open Beta 13/4. There is no mention on whether the I/O bug has been fixed in either Beta 14/5 or Beta 15/6, so we'll have to test to see if it's still there.

To try out the latest Open Beta, download Open Beta 15 for OnePlus 3 and Open Beta 6 for OnePlus 3T. Users who are already on the Open Beta branch will receive this update as an OTA. Do note that moving back to the Stable branch from Open Beta will involve a full clean flash.

What are your thoughts on the new Open Beta? Which feature are you looking forward to? Do you like the new UI changes? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Source 1: OnePlus 3 Forums Source 2: OnePlus 3T Forums

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Samsung May Displace Intel to Become World’s Most Profitable Chip Maker

Intel is currently the market leader in the semiconductor business and has dominated the industry for more than two decades with its wide range of offerings. However, Samsung has recently been catching up thanks to the strong performance of its semiconductor business. Now, according to a new report, Samsung may soon replace Intel to become the world's most profitable chip making company.

According to the research firm, IC Insights, Samsung will likely displace its US-based rival Intel as the company's chip business is expected to register a record-break revenue in the second quarter. As per the report, Intel's revenue from chip sales is expected to remain around $14.4 billion in the second quarter. Meanwhile, Samsung is expected to post $14.6 billion in revenue for the same period, thus taking the first spot from Intel to become the world's most profitable chip making company.

The report cites increasing demand and rising prices in memory markets as the key factor to drive Samsung's chip business revenue in the second quarter. Due to strong global demand for premium and high-performance smartphones, prices for memory chips, DRAM and NAND flash are expected to rise by 39% and 25%, respectively, the report notes.

"If memory market prices continue to hold or increase through the second quarter and the balance of this year, Samsung could charge into the top spot and displace Intel, which has held the No. 1 ranking since 1993," predict Bill McClean, president of the market research firm IC Insights.

In the first quarter, Intel was still on top with its $14.2 billion in revenue, while Samsung was second with $13.5 billion in sales. Intel has remained in the top spot in the chip market since the introduction of its Pentium series of processors back in 1993. Should the shift happen and Samsung becomes the most profitable business in the semiconductor space, Intel will lose its top position for the first time ever in the last 24 years.

Samsung's chip business was also one of the top contributors in its first quarter's earnings. The chip business recorded $5.5 billion in operating profits, accounting more than half of the total operating revenue of the company.

Source: The Korea Herald

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Analyst: Apple Could Announce a Siri-Based Smart Speaker at WWDC

Virtual personal assistants are everywhere these days. Google Now was Google's way of developing a predictive personal assistant so that you wouldn't have to keep digging through your e-mails for reminders, set up RSS feeds, or search through Google Maps for traffic on your daily commute. This proved to be much more useful than Apple's Siri at the time, but it was only half of the puzzle for Google. Amazon created Alexa and began shipping its wildly popular Echo devices, then Microsoft came out with Cortana, and now Google has come full circle with the Google Assistant and the Google Home.

Many people really enjoy the idea of having their own virtual personal assistant as a stationary device and this made Amazon's Echo products quite successful. Amazon's dedication towards including the massive amount of 3rd-party skills for the device has also helped it gain a lead in the market. Google Home was released to compete in that space and it's doing fairly well with the ability to tap into Google's massive search engine knowledge graph.

Back in May of last year, The Information reported that Apple was wanting to get in on the fun too. There wasn't much details to go on at the time other than the device would have a speaker, a microphone, and being Siri-based – nothing you wouldn't expect to see on a home assistant device. There wasn't much talk about the news since then, but last month there was a new rumor that sparked people's interest. This new rumor came from leaker Sonny Dickson who tweeted that Apple was "finalising designs for their Alexa competitor."

He said it was to be marketed as a "Siri/AirPlay device" and is said to include some sort of Beats by Dre technology. Now yesterday, it was reported by MacRumors that an "often-reliable Apple analyst" felt there was more than a "50% chance" that Apple would be announcing this product next month at the WWDC event. The analyst expects the device to have a woofer and seven tweeters, computing power similar to the iPhone 6/6s, and will be positioned for the high-end market as a better entertainment experience and higher price than the Amazon Echo.

Source: MacRumors

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Study: Many WiFi-to-PC Apps in the Play Store Leave Ports Open and are Poorly Secured

A while back, there were some security concerns with the AirDroid application. This application lets you connect your smartphone or tablet to your PC over WiFi so you can transfer files and control the device from the PC. A few months back, researchers had found an authentication flaw that lets attackers access ports, which allowed hijacking existing connections. This flaw was eventually patched by AirDroid, but it sheds light on the kind of security issues that are possible with these kinds of WiFi file sharing apps.

Just recently, a group of researchers from the University of Michigan found that hundreds of applications in the Play Store that offered these types of features also suffered from serious security flaws. These applications essentially turn your device into a server so that the PC is able to connect to the smartphone or tablet. However, these applications suffer from a major security flaw in that these applications leave an unsecured port open. Thus a malicious entity can scan devices on the network for an open port to attack from and will easily find it if the person is using one of these insecure applications.

The Michigan researchers built a piece of software called OPAnalyzer (which stands for Open Port Analyzer) and then used it to scan the code of about 100,000 popular applications on the Play Store. During this process, they found 1,632 applications opened up a port on the smartphone or tablet. Then, of those 1,632 applications they discovered that 410 of them either had zero or very weak protection when it came to that opened port.

Of those 410 applications, they found 57 of them left these ports open and exploitable by an attacker on the same local WiFi network. Many phones are set to automatically connect to open WiFi networks so they can use less mobile data. As soon as that happens the attacker has full access to scan the ports of said device and then look for potential weaknesses.

The researchers even found applications that used hard-coded passwords to grant access to that port. These passwords could be figured out by analyzing the code of the application. Overall, it's clear that you should exercise precaution before blindly trusting that an app has implemented proper network security protocols, otherwise you're leaving yourself open to attacks.

Source: Wired

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Monday, May 1, 2017

Nine Galaxy S8 Tips and Tricks

Samsung phones are known for having some of the most feature-rich software. The Galaxy S8 has so many features that many users will be a bit overwhelmed at first. This video from Miles at XDA TV will show you some of the best tips and tricks to get you started with your new device.