Tag Archives: Google Apps

Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Some Popular Android Apps Found To Include Malware

Google does an admirable job of keeping its sprawling Play Store free of apps containing malware. Their verification system is world-class.

That said, no system is perfect, and that includes Google’s. In recent months, the company has removed nearly a hundred apps that made it through their various gateways and checkpoints while containing all manner of malware.

Naturally, these were removed as soon as the issue was reported to Google, and now, it has happened again.

Czech antivirus company Avast recently reported that it found adware on 21 different apps on the Play Store. As of the time this article was written, Google has taken most of the offending apps down, but six still remain available to unsuspecting users.

The names of the offending apps are:

  • Shoot Them
  • Crush Car
  • Rolling Scroll
  • Helicopter Attack
  • Assassin Legend
  • Helicopter Shoot
  • Rugby Pass
  • Flying Skateboard
  • Iron It
  • Shooting Run
  • Plant Monster
  • Find Hidden
  • Find 5 Differences
  • Rotate Shape
  • Jump Jump
  • Find the Difference – Puzzle Game
  • Sway Man
  • Money Destroyer
  • Desert Against
  • Cream Trip
  • Props Rescue

As you can tell by the titles, these are games aimed primarily at children. Kids generally aren’t savvy enough to do even the most basic investigation to see whether an app is legit, or if it might be doing something nefarious behind the scenes. The truth is, many adults aren’t tech savvy enough to do that either, which is how these apps are able to infect so many devices.

In any case, check your phone and check the devices your children use to see if any of the apps listed above are installed. If so, then there’s also a piece of malware called “HiddenAds” which will display annoying amounts of unwanted advertising on the device in question until you find the app and remove it.

Kudos to Google for moving swiftly in taking down most of the offending apps, and by the time you read this piece, the odds are excellent that the remaining six offenders will be gone as well.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Google Play Music Changing To YouTube Music By December 2020

Google has been planning to consolidate its holdings for a long while now, and part of that process includes doing away with Google Play Music and rolling it into YouTube Music.

The company’s original music service now has an official end of life date: December of 2020.

Not to worry though, the company is keeping pricing the same, and you can seamlessly and relatively painlessly switch from Google Play Music to YouTube Music. This includes having your playlists, all of your recommendations, liked and disliked songs copied over so your preferences will remain intact. Any saved stations associated with your account and of course, all of your uploads and purchases will copy over as well.

Although you may not realize it, the transition has already begun. If you have a Google Play Music account, you now also have a YouTube Music account. All you have to do to move the relevant bits of your old Play Music account over is log into YouTube Music and select the “Transfer” button. If you happen not to see a transfer button, you can navigate to that window simply by adding “/transfer” to the end of your YouTube Music URL.

Once the page loads, you’ll see everything that is to be moved across, and all you have to do is click the button to begin. Depending on the size of your playlists, the number of preferences, and saved stations and such, the process could take up to several hours. For most people, it will probably be wrapped up much more quickly than that.

Then, if you prefer, just keep on using Google Play Music until it expires, or go ahead and make the switch now.

In anticipation of Google Play Music’s impending retirement, by the end of this month (August 2020) you will no longer be able to purchase or pre-order music using the old Google Play Music site. So if you plan on doing that, you’ll probably want to make the switch early to retain full functionality. It’s not so much saying goodbye to an old friend, as it is saying hello to an improved one.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

G-Suite Users Get New Security Features

Are you a G-Suite user? If so, we have great news! Recently, Google rolled out a number of exciting new features to enhance both the usability of the G-Suite and its security.

In the words of Javier Soltero, the VP and GM of the G-Suite: “Instead of learning another tool, we need the tools we already use to be even more helpful and work together.”

Here’s a quick preview:

The biggest and most easily noticed change is to the “Rooms” feature inside Chat, which is Google’s messaging platform.

Rooms create a shared space that groups of users can collaborate in. Now, on the heels of the latest update, anyone in a Room can also access shared files and task items without leaving the room. In addition to that, users can no co-edit and co-open documents from inside the room.

The company also introduced tighter integration that reduces the need to switch between tools. For example, you can now join a video call from inside chat, or create a new task from a chat message. On top of that, using Gmail’s search function will now display results from any Chats you’re currently a part of.

Even better, the company has longer term plans to begin adding third-party integrations to Gmail, Chat (and Rooms), including hooks for Trello, Salesforce, and DocuSign.

In terms of new security features, the plan is to begin by rolling those changes out for consumer and Education customers. When the changes are made, Hosts will be able to use knocking controls in order to keep ousted attendees from attempting to re-enter a chat or a room via knocking, and Chat will be augmented with new phishing protections.

These are incredibly good, exciting changes and we can’t wait to see them once they’re all in place. If you’re a G-Suite users, you can begin enjoying the first wave of changes next time you use any of the tools mentioned above, with more to come in the weeks and months ahead.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Some Google GSuite Apps Require Updating To Continue Working

Mark the date August 12th, 2020 on your calendar if you’re a GSuite user.

Google has warned users that unless they update their GSuite iOS and Android apps, they may stop working by the date referenced above.

The company’s announcement concerning the matter reads, in part, as follows:

“In 2018, we began making changes to our API and service infrastructure to improve performance and security. As a result of these changes, some older versions of G Suite desktop and mobile apps may stop working on August 12, 2020.”

The blog post where the announcement was made doesn’t go into detail regarding exactly what the changes are, but they appear to be based on the company’s decision to discontinue support for global HTTP batch endpoints and JSON-RPC protocols.

Originally, the move was scheduled for March, 2020, but as the company proceeded with their plans, they realized that a few highly impacted customers may not have received the earlier notifications they issued relating to these changes. As a result, they decided to extend the depreciation timeline to August 12th.

GSuite is incredibly popular, and has enjoyed a tremendous surge of growth in recent months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. If you’re only a casual GSuite user, you may not pay that much attention to how often you keep your apps updated. That could come back to haunt you if you don’t set a bit of time aside to take care of it before the aforementioned deadline.

If you’re an admin, Google recommends encouraging end users to upgrade their apps as soon as possible to avoid serious disruptions in workflow. If you’re an end user, the sooner you update, the better.

Even though the company has been transparent about the process and has given everyone plenty of advance notice, they’re sure to face at least some backlash on August 13th when the GSuite stops working for some users. Take steps now to be sure you’re not among the disrupted.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Google Added A Video Conferencing Tool For Users

Google Meet is a video conferencing tool the company originally designed for Enterprise users.

There are serious security issues with some of the more popular free or low-cost options available for the masses.

So, Google made the decision to make Meet free to anyone with an email address.

The rollout took two weeks to complete, but is now available to all. It can be yours simply by heading to meet.google.com, or by paying a visit to the Google Play or Apple App store.

Since the global pandemic forced so many people to work from home, Google has seen a huge surge in demand for the service. Last month alone, Meet added an average of 3 million new users a day. Seeking to further capitalize on the increased demand, the company is taking steps to make their offering even more attractive. They are among other things, adding a new feature that makes it directly accessible from Gmail.

Google isn’t alone in the rush to capture an increasing percentage of this burgeoning new market. Last month, Facebook announced a whole raft of new video products, including Messenger Rooms. Rooms are consumer-focused video conferencing solutions that leverage the company’s well-established technology.

Even with the rush of competition into this sphere, however, Google is well-positioned to utterly dominate the market. The G-Suite is incredibly popular among Enterprise users. By opening Meet’s features up to the general public, the company should be able to capture a significant portion of the new demand for home video conferencing services.

Even after the pandemic is behind us, industry experts are predicting that there won’t be much of a decline in demand, and that video conferencing will come to increasingly define the way the world works. Only time will tell. Meanwhile, if you’re a fan of the Google ecosystem, you can get your hands on a new, high value video conferencing tool for free.

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