Android Techs

Last week, WhatsApp users complained when it was revealed that the world’s most popular messaging app would start sharing user data with Facebook.
WhatsApp, which was purchased by Facebook for $19 billion in 2014, announced that user data would be used to deliver more customized Facebook ads to your news feed. In more straightforward terms, WhatsApp is taking everything it knows about you and selling that information to advertisers.

Now, there’s been some miscommunication over what this privacy sharing entails. Some people have written tutorials on how to opt-out of this sharing, for example. Many people believe that the data is only being shared with Facebook. However, we know now that this is not entirely true.

You’re Agreeing to Share your Information with More than Just Facebook
When you read the new WhatsApp privacy policy, you’ll see frequent reminders that all of your messages are encrypted from end-to-end. In addition, however, the privacy policy specifically mentions that you’re sharing your WhatsApp data with more than just Facebook – you’re sharing it with “other companies in the Facebook family”, including Atlas, Instagram, Onavo, Parse, Moves, Oculus, LiveRail (also known as Facebook Audience Network), and Masquerade.

What Type of Data is WhatsApp Using?
So which part of your personal data is at risk? Essentially, you’re agreeing to share all of the information you’ve entered through your WhatsApp account, including information you provided and information provided about you by other users. Here’s what’s specifically mentioned in the WhatsApp privacy policy:

Your Account Information
Your Connections
Usage and Log Information
Status Information
Information Others Provide About You
Third Party Providers

How to Opt Out

You can’t fully opt out of WhatsApp’s new sharing policy with Facebook. However, you can turn off some parts of tracking from the WhatsApp settings menu.

Source: WhatsApp is Giving your Information to More than Just Facebook

A new notifications system was one of many changes in Android 7.0 Nougat. The notification system now gives you more control and better organization for all of the alerts you receive throughout the day.

Ready to take full advantage of this new and improved notification system? Today, we’re giving you 5 tips that help you do exactly that.

3) Use Quick Reply
You don’t need to set anything up to use Quick Reply. It’s enabled by default. As expected, this lets you directly reply to notifications from the notifications screen without actually opening that app.

2) Customize Notifications Directly from the Notifications Shade
Want to change the way you receive notifications from a certain app? Instead of swiping away all notifications (something that’s still available in Nougat), just give a gentle nudge in from right to left (don’t swipe all the way across your screen). You’ll see a small wrench appear. Touch this wrench to customize the notifications for your app. Then, long press on the alert to do the same thing.

1) Customize Settings Even Further
Tip 4 offered basic customization options. However, you can customize your notifications even further by tapping the More Settings button underneath. This More Settings button takes you to another screen for the app where you can customize your settings even further.

More notification options include the ability to prevent notifications from showing on the lock screen or even the ability to override “Do Not Disturb” mode.

Read Full Article: Ways to Take Advantage of Android Nougat is Improved Notification System

At this point, you’ve already heard about Pokemon Go – or played it.

But you might not know how much danger you’re in while playing Pokemon Go.

It’s true! Contrary to what you might think, playing Pokemon Go can be dangerous for your online security. Today, we’re going to help you stay safe. Here are 5 easy tips you can use to stay safe while playing Pokemon Go:

5) Change your Google or Apple Account Password to Something Stronger
4) Avoid Downloading Any Pokemon Go-Related Apps
3) Don’t Try to Download Versions of Pokemon Go Outside the Official App Store
2) Avoid Free Pokemon Go Goodie Sites and Apps
1) Don’t Use your Debit or Credit Card to Buy In-Game Goodies

Source: Ways to Stay Safe While Playing Pokemon Go

Have you downloaded a Pokemon Go guide app in the last few months? It’s possible that you downloaded devastating malware.

A popular Pokemon Go guide app with half a million downloads was recently caught hacking Android devices. The hack was discovered by researchers from Kaspersky Lab. The app, which goes by the vague name Guide for Pokemon Go, was widely available on the Google Play Store – but has since been taken down.

The app, according to Kaspersky’s blog post, used multiple layers of obfuscation to bypass Google Play’s malware detection mechanisms.

One of the key defense mechanisms is that the app contains a malicious module that doesn’t execute immediately: instead, the app waits until the user has installed or uninstalled another application. It does this to ensure that it’s being run on a real device – not an emulated environment like the ones researchers use to test malware.

After the app determines it’s running on a real device, it begins to go to work. It waits an extra two hours before executing its malicious module, which then connects to a remote server. The malware sends device-specific data to that server, and then the server responds by telling the module to download exploits that correspond specifically to vulnerabilities on that device.

Full news: Pokemon Go Guide App is Actually Dangerous Malware

There was huge news in the Android community this morning as Samsung announced that it was recalling its Note 7 phones worldwide over a battery problem.

That battery problem is expected to be related to the fact that the battery can catch fire while charging. This occurred after there were unconfirmed rumors of Note 7 units catching fire around the world.

The Note 7 made headlines this past month for being one of the first smartphones with an iris scanner. You can access your smartphone simply by letting it scan your eye. The phone was well-reviewed by most major Android media organizations.

In any case, Samsung is being forced to recall millions of units over the issue. Since the Note 7 was released last month, Samsung has sold approximately 2.5 million units.

Read the full details on this news here.