Tag Archives: Google Apps

Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Google Prioritizing Privacy And Safety With Play Store Updates

Google generally does a great job with security when it comes to the Google Play Store.

Of course, the company regularly makes headlines when poisoned apps are discovered, but given the sheer number of apps available on the Play Store, the percentage of problematic ones is barely a blip on the radar. That certainly doesn’t give Google a free pass, but it’s an absolute fact that if you download something from the Play Store and do even a little due diligence, you can do so with confidence.

Recently, the company announced some upcoming changes that will make the Play Store even safer and more secure. Chief among them is the fact that beginning in the first quarter of 2022, Google will require app developers to disclose exactly what data an app collects and how it is used. The details include whether or not the collected data is shared, making that information readily available to anyone who considers downloading the app. By itself, that represents a huge change, and one that’s sure to have ripple effects throughout the industry, but Google doesn’t plan to stop there.

In addition to that change, the following additional information will be listed for every app on the Play Store:

  • Whether or not the app has any type of built in security, like data encryption
  • Whether it follows Google’s Families policy
  • Whether the app absolutely needs the data it collects in order to function or if users have choice in sharing it
  • Whether the app has a safety section verified by an independent third-party
  • And whether or not the app enables users to request data deletion if they decide to uninstall

Taken together, this represents a massive change, and it’s all good news for anyone who downloads anything from the Play Store. Kudos to Google for continuing to put user privacy and security front and center.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Recent Study Finds Mobile App Spending Is Up

Since the pandemic began, there has been an enormous boom in app spending, and that trend shows no signs of stopping.

In fact, app sales broke a new record in the first quarter of 2021, with the total clocking in at an impressive $32 billion. That’s up $9 billion from just one year ago.

Apple is the big winner here, capturing a staggering $21 billion of the total, with Android users making up the $11 billion difference and taking a distant second place. Even so, based on statistics by app analytics firm App Annie, both the Apple and Google Play Stores saw their virtual store revenues increase by 40 percent year over year, an impressive feat indeed.

Although the rates of growth in revenues were identical, there were some interesting differences in the kinds of apps that drew the most attention on the two stores. On Google’s Play Store, for example, the most popular apps that people spent money on tended to be social, financial, and productivity tools, while on the Apple Store, the biggest draws were games, financing and networking apps.

Across the app ecosystem, the single fastest growing app in the first quarter of 2021 was Signal, which got a lot of attention and attracted legions of new users after What’s App released a “take it or leave it” privacy policy that allows the company to share user profile data with Facebook.

It seems that a significant chunk of What’s App’s user base rebelled and sought other alternatives with many of them gravitating to Signal. It’s unclear at this point whether the mass migration away from What’s App will cause the company to change their minds and revise their privacy agreement, and if they do, it’s unclear that their departed users would bother to return.

Interesting times indeed, and the app ecosystem is bustling. If you’re considering launching an app for your company with a paid option, now looks like a fantastic time to do so.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Organizing May Become Easier With New Google App

Just in time for tax season, Google has released a new app called Stack for Android devices. Stack is functionally similar to a Microsoft app called Lens, which was originally released for use with Windows phones, but has since found a home on the Play Store.

The purpose of the app is to help get (and keep) users organized.

You can scan your bills and receipts with the app, which automatically crops and sharpens them. Stack also uses text scanning capabilities that very much play to Google’s core strengths to single out important details like due dates and total amounts due. It can even categorize and organize your paperwork into similar groups called, predictably enough, stacks.

As with Google’s search engine, the Stack app’s organizational capabilities are impressive, but they’re not perfect. So the app will undoubtedly make a mistake here and there. Even given this, however, it’s a fantastic and free way you can keep your important papers organized, which will make things much easier when it comes time to file those annual taxes.

Even better, it’s got a backup function that’s tied to Google’s cloud drive service, so if you have an account, you won’t ever have to worry about losing track of your receipts. If they somehow vanish from your phone, you’ll be able to pull copies of what you need from your cloud drive.

Best of all, the little app is surprisingly secure. You can augment that even further by enabling biometric sign-in on the phone, so that no one can access your documents unless they scan your fingerprint in.

It’s a good app, and well worth downloading and experimenting with. Kudos to Google for offering up something genuinely useful, especially at this time of year when tax preparation efforts are giving a great many people heartburn and headaches. Download your copy from the Play Store today.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Google To Add Password Breach Prevention Feature To Android

If you’re a Google Chrome user, then you’ve probably already used or at least seen the Password Checkup feature in action.

It’s the little popup box you see when you type in a password to a website that requires a login and Chrome detects that the password has been compromised. At that point, you’ll get a helpful box asking if you’d like Chrome to check all of the other passwords you’ve saved into the browser.

It’s a good feature and it will definitely help keep your passwords more secure.

Even better, Google has now rolled that feature out to Android users. It’s the same idea, but with a slightly different implementation. In this case, the check will occur when you log onto a site from your Android device using a password stored in the Android OS. The OS will perform a quick check of the password in question to see if it gets flagged, by searching through its constantly updated database of passwords that have been impacted by a data breach. It will let you know if your username and password came up in its search.

Just like Google Chrome does, it will then offer to check all of the passwords you’ve stored in the Android OS. It’s a good feature in Chrome and a welcome addition to the Android OS. Best of all, it creates a more seamless user experience as you hope from your favorite Android device and back to your PC.

If you’re interested in checking it out, and you’re using Android 9+, just open your phone’s Settings App, tap “System,” “Languages & Input” and then “Advanced.”

Once there, tap the Autofill service, and then tap Google to make sure the setting is enabled. Follow those simple steps and you’ll increase your password security on your phone. Kudos to Google for the addition.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Google Calendar Search Bar Moved For Easier Use

Google calendar is one of the most efficient products that Google made. Although, not as popular as other Google products, users who use it testify that it has made them more productive. In keeping to time, setting appointments, and meeting up to schedules, Google calendar has proven to be very helpful. It gives one control of their time and helps with navigating every 24 hours with ease and efficiency.

The world is very busy with many things demanding attention and keeping track. Meeting up with deadlines may become hard to navigate if time is not well planned and thought out. There are many features on Google’s calendar designed to create a superb user experience.

Some of them include:

  • The ability to set multiple notifications for numerous events.
  • Share schedule with family and friends.
  • Letting the calendar find the right time that is perfect for fixing meetings with everyone conveniently.
  • Talking to the calendar on days one is too tired to type using the Google assistant for each user. The Google’s voice typing feature also comes handy here.
  • Ability to customize the calendar for easy navigation.
  • Set meetings across different time zones and not miss any important event.

Many features of Google’s calendar truly makes it one of Google’s finest products yet an efficient life’s tool. However, with product design, the smallest tweak to a feature gives it a different feel and makes it exceptional. This little change that Google has added to the Google calendar, for now, is sure to change the user interface experiences.

The Google calendar has a search button: a small magnifying glass that is synonymous with search. However, the search button is not just what is interesting, but where it is now. In a recent update, Google has put the search button on the navigation bar. That means that searching for meetings and appointments has now become easier and more visible to the users.

It may have taken a while for this update to get done, but having it done now is a smart move and can easily pass for the most thought out feature update on a product by Google in recent time. This update is only on android devices for now, but there are support groups on every platform, and it won’t be long before it arrives on IOS devices too.

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