Google Allo Rockets Past 5 Million Downloads

Image Courtesy http://www.androidauthority.com/

When Google Allo went live, it saw a flurry of downloads as users rushed to make the search giant’s new messaging platform their go-to communication app. Indeed, just four days ago it surpassed 1 million downloads. It seems the fervor isn’t dying down, because as of today, Allo is sitting pretty at over 5 million installs.

Indeed, Allo rode the number 1 slot in the Google Play Store’s rankings over the weekend. Although it’s slipped to number 8 by now, adoption still appears strong. However, if the buzz quickly dies, it wouldn’t be an outcome without recent precedent.

Google Duo, the company’s recent Facetime competitor, saw a similar burst in popularity upon release, but the shine quickly faded – in spite of a strong advertising push on the part of Google. Indeed, Duo is now lying all the way down at number 85 on the free charts, but it’s worth mentioning that it has over 10 million downloads.

It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Allo follow a similar trajectory. Although the much-anticipated app handles the basics with aplomb, users were irritated with what they felt was a very beta experience. The platform just doesn’t feel polished, and even though the developers are promising that more updates are on the way that will bring them the features and services they desire, it might be too little too late for Allo.

Allo rode the number 1 slot in the Google Play Store’s rankings over the weekend. 

The app does have two things going well for it right now. First off is Google Assistant, which has proven to be both a blast to play with and fascinatingly useful. Second, the app is adept at spreading itself by pushing notifications to non-Allo recipients encouraging them to download the app. Who knows? If this app gets the features users want in time, it may survive with a viral-like explosion of adoption.

What do you think of Google Allo’s early proliferation in spite of lackluster first impressions? Will it take off as a go-to messenger? Let us know your prediction in the comments below!

Originally Posted on http://www.androidauthority.com/

Read More

Google will give you up to $200K if you can hack the newest version of Android

Image Courtesy http://www.digitaltrends.com/

Think you’ve got the hacking chops to breach a flagship Android phone? Google’s willing to pay you to prove it. On Wednesday, the Cupertino, California-based company announced Project Zero, a contest that asks enterprising hackers to demonstrate flaws in the company’s smartphone operating system in exchange for cold, hard cash.

“Despite the existence of vulnerability rewards programs at Google and other companies, many unique, high-quality security bugs have been discovered as a result of hacking contests,” Google’s Natalie Silvanovich wrote in a blog post. “The goal of this contest is to find a vulnerability or bug chain that achieves remote code execution on multiple Android devices knowing only the devices’ phone number and email address.”

Here’s how it works: Hackers who uncover a serious security bug, exploit, or flaw in Android are encouraged to publish them on the Android issue tracker, a public forum devoted to documenting Android issues from visual glitches to wonky Wi-Fi. Posts will have to be detailed — contest participants must share a “full description” of how the exploit works with the expectation that, if verified independently, they’ll be published on a public Google blog. They’ll have to work on Google’s branded Nexus devices, the Huawei-made Nexus 6P and LG’s Nexus 5X, plus any devices running an up-to-date build of Android 7.0 Nougat. And the more, the better — reported bugs can contribute to a larger Project Zero submission at any time during the contest’s six-month period, Google said.

The prizes ain’t half bad. The winner of the contest takes home $200,000, while the runner-up will net $100,000. And an undisclosed number of entries will be receive a consolatory prize of $50,000. And there’s no way to lose: Google said that bugs that aren’t submitted during the entry period may be considered for other contests like Android Security Rewards, as well as future, as-yet-unannounced promotions.

Project Zero’s impetus, Google said, was discovering bugs that would otherwise go unreported. Another motivation? Developing fixes quickly, and in some cases pre-emptively. “Our main motivation is to gain information about how these bugs and exploits work,” Silvanovich wrote.” There are often rumors of remote Android exploits, but it’s fairly rare to see one in action. We’re hoping this contest will improve the public body of knowledge on these types of exploits.”

More broadly, Google is hoping to dissuade unscrupulous types who otherwise might be inclined to sell exploits to the highest bidder. McAfee’s Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated that the cost of cybercrime is somewhere around $160 billion a year. And as use of mobile devices has climbed to unprecedented levels, the price of so-called zero-day bugs — exploits deriving from a previously unknown vulnerability — on internet black markets has mirrored that growth. A zero-day flaw in the latest version of iOS, for example, can sell for as much as $250,000, according toWired, and some foreign governments have reportedly paid nearly half a million dollars for comparable bugs.

“We’re hoping to get dangerous bugs fixed so they don’t impact users,” Silvanovich said. “We’re [hoping] that this contest will give us another data point on the availability of these types of exploits.”

Project Zero began Wednesday.

Originally Posted on http://www.digitaltrends.com/

Read More

Nougat arrives for Android One

Image Courtesy http://www.androidauthority.com/

We’ve gotten pretty familiar with Android’s latest OS version Nougat, but so far Android 7.0 has yet to arrive on many devices. However, now it appears that some users rocking Android One devices as their daily drivers are starting to see Nougat rolling out to their smartphones.

Although we don’t have absolutely firm confirmation as of yet, it appears that Android One smartphones like the Cherry Mobile G1 are joining the ranks of Nexus devices, the LG V20, and a handful of other phones that are are experiencing unofficial Nougaty goodness thanks to Android’s ambitious modding community.

If you own an Android One device, head on over to your settings and see if a Nougat update is available for you. Then sound off in the comments letting us know if you got it and what device you’re running. For everyone else sitting around twiddling their thumbs and waiting for Nougat to rollout, check out our comprehensive write up over here.

Originally Posted on http://www.androidauthority.com/

Read More

Digit, a simple app to help you save, launches Android app

Image Courtesy https://techcrunch.com/

Whether you’re working out of a dorm room or running a billion-dollar company, a little pivot can go a long way. At their worst, pivots can derail a company’s success, but at their best, they demonstrate a company is still attuned to its user base — no matter how big it gets.

Digit, a fintech service that helps people save, launched a year and a half ago with the hypothesis that the key to incentivizing savings was simplicity. The company dropped a nifty SMS tool to proactively inform users of their spending habits and nudge people to save. While it’s true that simplicity is important, it turned out that people didn’t feel very in control of their money over a platform as colloquial as text messaging.

To address this problem, Digit launched an iOS application that rapidly grew to account for half of all users. Today, the company is taking the next step by launching an Android version of their service as well. As we previously covered, Digit connects to your checking account and analyzes personal cashflow to optimize savings.

When we spoke with Digit CEO Ethan Bloch, he said he expects the number of users accessing Digit through their mobile app to grow to 90 percent in the coming months. The premise is an interesting one with a number of fintech services taking sides between in-app and out-of-app offerings.

Mobile payments company Boku for example raised $13.75 million in funding last week to facilitate transactions for digital goods and services outside of an application. Users input their mobile phone number to pay for goods directly. People are comfortable processing “hundreds of millions of transactions” on the platform, but Digit has been discovering that all of that changes when the transaction moves from spending to saving.

Bloch gives an explanation rooted in behavioral science to explain why his Digit savings service works better through a mobile application. Bloch noticed that engagement was double in the mobile application. He explained this data point by saying that users want to feel their money is cordoned off and protected. Fundamentally there is nothing different in how money is managed on an SMS service or one run through a mobile app. However, an app provides the illusion of separateness, a private place users can check their balance. And while it may seem silly, small details like this matter in the real world.

The shift seems to be working as the company has grown to manage $30 million in savings every month, up from the $20 million we reported back in June. The 19 person company is projecting $360 million per year in facilitated savings.

Interestingly, the iPhone user demographic is wealthier than that of Android, so the new application will make it easier for everyday Americans to use Digit to manage their cashflow.

“Android gives us a more normal distribution of the working population, and a better sense of the economic fate of the country, including more people who have trouble making ends meet each month,” said Bloch In the coming months, Digit will be focusing its financial resources on developing new features in their product roadmap. The company has raised over $36 million in funding from GV, General Catalyst, Ribbit Capital, and Baseline.

The new app is available from the Google Play store starting today for Android 4.1.2 and higher. Even with the new app, customers can continue to receive financial updates via SMS if they so choose.

Originally Posted on https://techcrunch.com/

Read More

Android Pay is coming to the mobile web ‘soon,' available first on Chrome

Image Courtesy http://www.theverge.com/

Android Pay will be up and running on the mobile web "soon," says Google, letting users pay for their online shopping with their stored credit cards. Taking the payment system beyond something you use on your phone in stores has been on the cards for a while now (with new API support added in the most recent version of Chrome), but according to new a blog post from the Android team, we shouldn’t have much longer to wait.

"We’re moving beyond mobile apps and bringing the simplicity and security of Android Pay onto the mobile web," writes Pali Bhat, Google’s global head of payment products. "Users will soon be able to speed through mobile checkout on Chrome using Android Pay on sites like Groupon.com, 1-800-Flowers.com and many more to come."

Alongside this non-specific timeline of mobile web support, Google also announced new banks signing up to the scheme. From this week, Chase customers in the US will be able to use Android Pay, with support for Santander and TSB customers in the UK arriving "over the coming weeks." Google also announced it’s taking part in Uber’s Payment Rewards program — meaning from September 7th to October 15th, Android Pay users in the US get 50 percent off ten Uber rides.

Originally Posted on http://www.theverge.com/

Read More

You can now use the emoji’s from Android Nougat with SwiftKey Keyboard

Image Courtesy http://phandroid.com/

Popular third-party keyboard option, SwiftKey, has just pushed an update to its stable version of the application which brings Unicode 8 emojis along with it. Unicode 8 was introduced alongside Android 7.0 Nougat and moved Android away from the blobs that graced our devices for years. Instead, our emojis are more realistic and feature round heads for the emoji that resembled people.

What’s new: 

• Sync service fixed
• Number, email and other predictions containing ‘@’ are turned back on. All previously learned number, email and @ predictions have been deleted but can now be relearned
• Android N emoji are now supported
• Diverse emoji now available. Long press select emoji to modify their skin tone

The update already hit the SwiftKey beta application for users a couple of weeks ago, but had yet to make its way to the stable version until today. As you would expect, these emoji’s are only available on devices that are running Android 7.0 Nougat and aren’t available for any other devices. However, if you’re a huge fan of SwiftKey and are running Android Nougat, go snag the update and take advantage of all the cool new emoji’s.

Originally Posted on http://phandroid.com/

Read More

Android App Development Best Practices

Estimated Read Time: 03 minutes

Android open source platform, since its release by Google, has tempted entrepreneurs and businesses like Outsourcing Android App Development Firms with bright and promising prospects. Hence, android apps have outnumbered the apps developed for iOS very fast. To leave a mark in an ever changing market scenario, your app must be developed by following certain practices mentioned below:

See Also: 20 Mistakes To Avoid While Building A Mobile App

App optimization

It is essential to optimize your app based on the targets you have set for your app. For example, to achieve high loading speed you need to optimize size of the app and other loading attributes. For enhanced user experience, there are a lot of things you need to focus on. So, depending on the goals you have set you need to optimize the attributes associated with them.

Pay attention to UI

Remember that intuitive and interactive user interface is the key to cohesive user experience. Therefore, keep your interface simple and easy to handle. Also leverage available tools to get assistance for certain aspects of the UI.

Get support from android communities

Get connected with android communities and solve your issues effortlessly. By staying in touch with like-minded and experienced developers you can improve your skills and also remain motivated.

Make feedbacks your guidelines

Paying attention to user feedbacks is of utmost importance to make a user-centric app. You can use their reviews as guidelines in introducing changes in your app to fulfill their requirement. Ultimately, you will end up with an app that will ensure enhanced user experience. If users like your app then it is more likely that your app will occupy space in their devices. As Google aptly says “Focus on the user and all else will follow.”

Follow Google’s guidelines thoroughly

Google has provided some must-know guidelines for android developers and it is advisable to keep those guidelines handy. The purpose of these guidelines is to maintain consistency among apps.

Hope you are ready to get started with your app development process! Otherwise contact Outsourcing Android Application Development Company from India renowned for high-quality and cost effective solution.

Look for more expert information on Outsourcing Mobile Applikation Entwicklung Germany, Android Applikation Spezialist and Android Apps Entwicklung from the renowned author.

Read More

Android And Chill: Samsung's Nightmare Moment

Image Courtesy http://www.androidcentral.com/

How you handle a product safety issue is important. Samsung handled it right.

Samsung just faced the worst nightmare any type of product design team could have on Friday. They realized that the Note 7 had some sort of flaw, and one that could hurt people, so they're pulling it off the shelves.

I'm not going to try and hash out all the different theories about why or how many or anything like that. We can either accept what Samsung's PR tells us and move along or realize that we'll never know the whole story and move along anyway. Instead, I'm going to talk about reactions.

We'll start with Samsung. I like to point fingers at Samsung for the stupid things they sometimes do because they are capable of so much better. That can't be said about the way they handled the Note 7 recall. When numerous reports of Note 7 explosions started creeping in, they could have pointed the finger at someone else or the user, or just ignored them as if they weren't happening. Instead, it's obvious that they started looking into the issue right away. And when faced with the horrifying idea that they just sold a couple million products that could hurt people or their property, they acted swiftly and did exactly the right thing — they recalled every single one of them and told everyone they were doing it. I don't think there's any better way something like this could be handled.

Of course, part of the reason they acted so quickly is a liability thing. If you or I buy a Note 7 and it goes boom then burns our house down or we lose a finger or something, Samsung will be shelling out the cash to compensate us. If that happens to 10 or 20 or 100 people, it moves from a matter of liability to something that can ruin a company's image. Remember when we all laughed at Toyota? That's what can happen when you don't do the right thing. Samsung did the right thing. GoodGuySamsung,

The flipside is the way the internet of turds tries to turn this into a dick-measuring contest. Thumping your chest and showing everyone that tattoo of your favorite brand of electronics manufacturer because their phones don't blow up really only makes you look like a jackass. You know who you are. And if this would happen to your favorite smartphone team you should hope they handle it as well as Samsung did. And not just the "other" team is guilty. Stop trying to blame cables or users or Bin Laden's ghost for the problem and appreciate the way it's being addressed. Saying it's the user's fault is like saying "You're holding it wrong" and means you're just as much of an asshole. Just stop, all of you.

Other stuff happened this week, too, because Android stuff happens every week.

• A whole lot of bloggers were in Berlin to look at stuff. IFA is always a crapshoot and you never know how good the stuff is going to look until you see it. This year was no different. We'll take a closer look at the real jewels, and probably miss one we should have looked it. We're human. You'll tell us when we miss one.
• NotNexus happened. Goodbye coolest name for a phone ever. Handling rumors can be hard. We sat on this for ages until we were as sure as we could be, and we are still sitting on a pile of other rumors. In the end, this particular one is fun to talk about, but a name change doesn't mean much. Especially from Google who isn't afraid to let go of anything. The other things that could be changing will mean more.
• Acer's new Chromebook has me interested. The R13 convertible hits a lot of things on my list — touch screen, big enough but not too big, and USB-C 3.1. It has the things it needs to be a good Chromebook that runs Android apps. I'm also interested how the Chrome team deals with Mediatek's less than stellar track record for security.
• The new Galaxy Gear looks pretty nice. This is going to be one of the best Gear watchesthat nobody buys. The people who do get one all seem to love them, but nobody has found that one killer feature that makes them necessary. That goes for smartwatches in general. I do hope Samsung keeps trying and finds that feature I didn't know I couldn't live without. That's how the best stuff happens.
• Qualcomm's Snapdragon 821 is official. We wrote this off earlier in the year as just an 820 improvement. People are still doing it. Now that we know the details, we're all wrong. Forget 10% faster and know that the 821 supports the very latest advanced graphics APIs, and we know what happens when a chip doesn't support them. Because one chip maker essentially controls the smartphone market, we just suck it up and buy new things.
• I found out Dan is a coffee lover. Next get-together calls for a Death Wish dark and RedBull cup of freedom.

More cool stuff will happen next week, too. And we'll be here to talk about it. Adios amigos!

Originally Posted on http://www.androidcentral.com/

Read More

20 Mistakes To Avoid While Building A Mobile App

In this article we are going to talk about top twenty mistakes that entrepreneurs make while building a mobile app.

1. Outsourcing application improvement abroad, blowing all their cash, and getting it reconstructed locally.

2. Expecting 'manufacture it and they will come'. Extraordinary applications don't circulate around the web without anyone else's input. They may appear to appear overnight, yet you can wager your life there's a deliberately executed promoting system driving it!

3. Not taking after the right procedure (Validate thought, fabricate MVP, re-accept, capital raise, popularize, and so on.)

4. Not considering promoting until the application has as of now dispatched or is days/weeks from dispatch.

5. General absence of arranging. Invest energy displaying and arranging your business. Attempt to comprehend what the future will look like because of your present methodology.

6. Arranging excessively. Try not to waste time assembling 40 page strategies for success that will be unessential in 6 months time.

7. Packing an excessive number of components. Your first dispatch ought to be a MVP that doesn't confound the client.

8. Excluding investigation. Following client conduct inside your application is the least demanding approach to increase genuine, target bits of knowledge for future application upgrades.

9. Accepting they can raise speculation off a cool thought alone. You can raise seed subsidizing for an application thought, however you'll have to showcase a compelling business opportunity.

10. Being stealth about their thought. Nobody is going to take your thought! You're squandering important contacts who can help you in the event that you don't share it.

11. Enlisting too rapidly. This is a surefire approach to blow all your trade out one go.

12. Not adhering to the procedure. This is a tiny bit unreasonable, yet in some cases you have to quit taking guidance, and begin adhering to the system.

13. Not putting resources into their application's posting page on the application store. Your screenshots should propel, your application portrayal punchy, and you need to rank very in quest postings for your picked watchwords.

14. Not spending enough cash on promoting. Regardless of the possibility that you're utilizing incline promoting strategies and channels, you ought to be set up to contribute a not too bad measure of your financial plan on advertising.

15. Endeavoring to scale rashly. You ought to just grow/scale once your business model is demonstrated and your business is prepared to make benefit.

16. Accepting that individuals will continue utilizing your application for eternity. The maintenance problemis that 90% of your application clients will abandon you inside 6 months.

17. Concentrating on the wrong measurements. Individuals tend to concentrate on downloads, Facebook preferences, grants, and other such measurements.

18. Overlooking associations. Insufficient new companies concentrate on organizations to extend their range or esteem suggestion.

19. Not hustling sufficiently hard. Take a shot at your own marking and raise your profile. Go to startup occasions. Meet individuals, make contacts and gain from individuals who've as of now been through what you're experiencing.

20. Timing. Dispatching too early could imply that you're propelling into a business sector that isn't prepared for your item/benefit. Propelling past the point of no return could imply that your business sector is soaked with wild rivalry.

Look for more expert information on Outsourcing Mobile Applikation Entwicklung, Android Apps Entwicklung Germany and Android App Expert from the renowned author.

Read More

Google Play Early Access is now open to even more developers

Image Courtesy http://www.androidcentral.com/

Google rolled out the Early Access program on Google Play earlier this year, giving users the ability to try out beta apps before they made their debut. Google hand-picked the apps that were allowed into Early Access during the initial rollout, but the company is now letting developers nominate apps and games for inclusion in the category.

Google also shared statistics on Early Access since its debut, stating that over 1 million beta apps have been installed in just over a month. The goal with the program is to boost discoverability of apps and games, while providing developers a platform for feedback and suggestions from a global community of users.

If you're a developer, you can get your app or game nominated to be included in Early Access by filling out this form. Interested in trying out beta apps? Head to the Early Access tab in the Play Store to explore upcoming apps.

Originally Posted on http://www.androidcentral.com/

Read More