Google has unveiled new policies for the Play Store that will effectively bar any existing Android Apps that are significantly out of date. All apps in the Store must target an API level within two years of the latest major Android release, or they won't be available for discovery or installation, it announced on its Android Developer blog. The aim is to "protect users from installing older apps that may not have these protections in place," the company said. The changes will go into effect on November 1st, 2022.

Currently, Google requires new apps and app updates to target an Android API level within just one year of the latest Android OS version release. The new changes, by contrast, target existing apps that may not have been updated in a while. Google notes that if you're running an older device, you'll "continue to be able to discover, re-install, and use the app on any device running any Android OS version that the app supports."

Google said the "vast majority" of apps already follow the incoming standard. While that may be true, the Play Store has around 2.87 million apps in total, so there are a no doubt a huge number that need attention. For those that don't conform, it's notifying developers and giving them any resources needed to update.

Play has seen a lot of new security measures over the last few years. The most significant came in 2017 when Google launched Play Protect designed to scan for rogue apps with help from machine learning. However, some still get through that pose security risks and violate user privacy. The new policy may help stop a good chunk of those, but as we all know by now, it will never catch them all. 

Volvo now offers over-the-air (OTA) software updates across its entire vehicle lineup, it announced. After first introducing it on all-electric models like the XC40, it's bringing the feature over to all new XC90, S60 and V60 ICE and hybrid vehicles. 

The latest update (Volvo's eighth so far) will roll out to over 190,000 vehicles this week. Owners will get the latest version of Android Automotive OS with Android 11 on their infotainment systems, with new app categories on Google Play ranging from navigation to charging and parking. Video streaming is expected to arrive later in the year. 

Volvo

It also brings feature improvements around energy management, climate timers and mobile app functionality. The energy management updates will help keep the battery temperatures stable in both warm and cold weather to boost range and lower charging times. You'll also see more frequent charging percentage updates during sessions.

Tesla pioneered over-the-air software updates on its Model S, X, 3 and other vehicles, assuring buyers that their EVs would get features found on newer models. It not only updates the software for entertainment and other systems (SOTA), but also firmware controlling the hardware (FOTA). Most automakers now offer some form of OTA updates, but many (BMW, Audi, Fiat) only deliver SOTA updates to the infotainment systems. 

Others, including GM and Ford, offer more extensive updates to vehicle systems, allowing them to improve range, performance and other factors. Volvo appears to fall into that category, improving not just the navigation and entertainment systems but charging and other features as well. It also promised that the infotainment system, developed jointly with Google, will feature on all new models across its lineup. 

Facebook is taking another step to encourage users to create original content for its TikTok clone. The company introduced a new “sharing to Reels” feature to allow users of third-party apps to post directly to Facebook Reels.

The update allows outside developers to add a “Reels button” to their app so users can post clips directly to Reels while taking advantage of Reels’ editing tools, Facebook wrote in a blog post. Initial developers to use the feature include Smule, which makes a popular karaoke app and video editing apps Vita and VivaVideo.

The move is yet another sign of the growing importance of Reels, and how Facebook has tried to borrow from the same playbook it used with Stories. Facebook has pushed Reels into nearly every part of its service in recent months just as it once did with Stories when the company viewed Snapchat as its chief rival. Now, with Facebook losing users to TikTok, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has staked a lot on the success of Reels. He said last fall that Reels would be “as important for our products as Stories” and that reorienting its service to appeal to younger users was the company’s “North Star.”

But incentivizing users to post original content, not just ripped off TikTok clips, has been somewhat of a challenge for the company. Instagram, which has had Reels the longest, said a year ago that it would stop promoting videos with other apps’ watermarks, but the service is still filled with recycled TikToks. Adding a “Reels” button to other content creation apps is unlikely to solve that overnight, but it could help bring in some fresh, non-TikTok-created clips.

Block disclosed today that a security breach involving a former employee impacts 8.2 million Cash App users. In an SEC filing, the company reported that an ex-employee on December 10th downloaded a number of reports with information on customer information. The exfiltrated data included full names, brokerage account numbers, brokerage portfolio value, brokerage portfolio holdings and reports of stock trading activity.

According to the filing, only customers that used Cash App’s stock function are potentially included in the breach. While Cash App got its start as a peer-to-peer payment app, its customers can also use it to buy stocks and Bitcoin. No other Cash App features outside of stocks were involved in the breach, nor did it include any customers outside of the US, according to the company. 

“The reports did not include usernames or passwords, Social Security numbers, date of birth, payment card information, addresses, bank account information, or any other personally identifiable information. They also did not include any security code, access code, or password used to access Cash App accounts. Other Cash App products and features (other than stock activity) and customers outside of the United States were not impacted,” wrote Block in the filing.

Block has launched a formal investigation into the incident and has contacted law enforcement. It also plans on notifying all 8.2 million customers involved in the breach by email.

According to the filing, the ex-employee once had access to the customer information as an employee at CashApp. But by the time the breach occurred, they had already been gone from the company for several months. It’s unclear how a former employee was still able to retrieve such highly sensitive information. Engadget has reached out to Block for a response, and will update if we hear back.

Epic Games has built a mobile app that can turn photos into 3D scans. Capturing Reality, a company Epic bought last year, created photogrammetric software called RealityCapture. It can quickly convert laser scans or images into 3D scans of assets. With the RealityScan app, Epic is hoping to give users access to the same tech right on their phone. 

The idea is that creatives will be able to scan real-world objects at any time to use in their projects. After you sign in with your Epic Games account, the app will prompt you to take at least 20 photos of an item. You can also hold down your finger on the capture button as you move around the object. 

After the app processes the images and turns it into a 3D object with the help of RealityCapture's servers, you can export the scan to Sketchfab (a 3D asset platform Epic also bought in 2021).

You'll then be able to sell the asset to other creatives or use them for your own 3D, virtual reality and augmented reality projects. Game developers might find the app particularly useful if they're in need of a particular item to place in a virtual environment. As it happens, Epic just opened up access to Unreal Engine 5.

Epic is testing a beta of the app with a limited number of iOS users before a broader, early access rollout on iPhone this spring. An Android version of RealityScan will arrive later this year.

Microsoft just unveiled a set of news around Windows 11 and its capabilities for hybrid work, bringing system-wide improvements to video-calling tools on PCs. It also announced some changes coming to the beloved File Explorer, with the biggest being a redesign and a highly anticipated tabs feature.

According to the company's release, "the redesigned, cloud-powered File Explorer" would let you "see all files in one centralized place." You will be able to pin files and create tabs, keeping your most frequently visited folders within easy reach. 

Microsoft has called Windows 11 the most accessible and inclusive version of Windows ever, and today it shared more around some assistive tools coming to the platform. A system-wide Live Captions feature, which was announced earlier this year, would transcribe all audio on your PC so people who are deaf or hard of hearing can understand spoken content. A Focus mode could help people with ADHD to be more productive, the company said.

This story is developing, please refresh for updates...

When Apple rolled out SharePlay with iOS 15.1 last year, it was only supported by a handful of apps. The list has grown a bit over the past months, with ESPN, Twitch and Disney+ updating their apps with the capability to use the group viewing feature. Now, you can add Hulu to the roster. The streaming service's latest iOS update introduces SharePlay as a feature for its iPhone, iPad and Apple TV app, so you can hold watch parties for shows like The Handmaid's Tale or The Dropout, which tells the story of controversial Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes. 

To use SharePlay, all participants in the watch party will have to be on iOS 15.1 or newer and will need to have Hulu accounts and subscriptions. You have to start a FaceTime call before you open the app. After you do, you'll see an alert at the top of your screen asking if you want to stream your content. Anyone who joins the session will have access to the pause, skip forward and rewind controls to make sure you're all watching the same thing at the same time. FaceTime will also have a picture-in-picture box at the top, which will show whoever is talking at the moment. SharePlay even comes with a feature called smart volume that automatically lowers the show's volume whenever somebody in the call is talking. 

In addition to SharePlay support, Hulu's latest update has also introduced a new feature that gives you a way to easily flip between the live TV channels you're currently watching. You can now get the update Hulu app from the Apple App Store.  

To fuel the rise of its app Flipagram, TikTok parent company Bytedance scraped profiles, videos, usernames and other content from Instagram and other social media platforms. Buzzfeed reported that the Chinese company scraped “hundreds of thousands” of accounts for content without users’ consent. Flipagram, which ByteDance acquired back in 2017, allowed users to create short slideshow videos set to music — sort of a simplified version of TikTok and other short-form video apps. The app has since been rebranded as Vigo Video.

The scraping strategy was meant to be a “growth hack” for Flipagram, allowing it to expand its user base, according to former ByteDance employees interviewed by Buzzfeed. Flipagram was scraping up to 10,000 videos per day from high-priority countries, according to one former employee. The three platforms that Flipagram allegedly scraped content from are Instagram, Snapchat and Musical.ly (which is owned by ByteDance and was later absorbed by TikTok). One former Bytedance employee disputes that Instagram was involved in the scrape due to the incompatible sizing of their videos at the time.

The employees also allege that the scraped content from major US social media platforms was then used to build Bytedance’s “For You” algorithm. TikTok has yet to comment on whether Flipagram’s stolen data was used to build TikTok’s “For You” algorithm.

Scraping publicly available data isn’t illegal by itself. Many social platforms find "creative" ways to boost their audience in their early days, like harvesting external content, creating fake profiles or mass-emailing potential users. But companies can also ban unauthorized scraping in their terms and conditions for users, which Instagram and Snapchat both do. Violating such contracts can often lead to lawsuits. 

There's an irony to Bytedance in its early days allegedly scraping data from Instagram, since Reels was Instagram's attempt to capture TikTok's audience and instead became a receptacle for old TikToks. In order to keep Reels from driving more traffic to its rival app, Instagram recently announced it would no longer promote TikToks. 

Amazon's anti-union stance might spill into the apps for employees. The Intercept says it obtained internal documents detailing a planned worker chat app that, while meant to boost happiness, would include a blocklist focused heavily on silencing pro-union keywords. In addition to forbidding the use of the word "union," it would also block terms like "compensation," "pay raise," "ethics" and even "robots."

Other bans would focus mostly on keeping things positive, such as "rude" and "stupid." Most, however, appear centered on working conditions. Amazon supposedly decided on the words at an upper-echelon meeting in November 2021, when they outlined an app that would encourage "Shout-Outs" and offer digital rewards for providing value to the company. 

The program linked to the app will reportedly launch in April. In a statement to The Intercept, however, Amazon spokeswoman Barbara Agrait said the initiative "has not been approved yet" and might be changed or scrapped.

If the program and its associated app launch, they would come at a tense moment. Amazon warehouse workers in Staten Island just voted to unionize, and those at a Bessemer, Alabama facility just had a highly contested rerun election where both sides accused each other of interference. While this app isn't about to hinder union organizers (they weren't likely to use Amazon-monitored chats), it could underscore the very labor concerns the company doesn't want employees to mention.

Twitter’s Android app has lagged behind its iOS counterpart for years, but at least in one way, the two clients could soon be on equal footing. In a tweet spotted by Android Police, Jane Manchun Wong, who’s known for reverse engineering apps to find new features before they’re released, said the company is working on allowing Android users to freely select text within tweets. That’s something Twitter’s iOS client has allowed you to do for a while.

The discovery initially lead to some confusion among Android users as a handful of devices already allow you to do that. For instance, Google’s Pixel phones come with a feature called Overview Selection that lets you select text from any screen for copying and pasting, but as former XDA Developers editor and Android expert Mishaal Rahman points out, that tool isn’t available everywhere. “Apart from Google Pixels, I don’t know if any other devices have it,” he said in response to a question from one developer who thought Twitter already supported text selection on Android.

We’re reached out to Twitter to find out when the company plans to roll out the feature to Android users. It’s strange that it took Twitter so long to add something so simple, but now that it’s on its way, Android users are sure to appreciate it.