Signal adds message requests so you learn more about who’s contacting you

For a lot of messaging platforms, it can be difficult to screen messages from people not in your contacts list. Signal is making that process safer by allowing users to have more control over who can message you and how a conversation starts.

Signal is a popular messaging app for those who value security and privacy. It’s cross-platform, supports end-to-end encryption for messaging, and retains little information about its users. While it may not be as feature-filled as other messaging platforms like Telegram or WhatsApp, its emphasis on security and privacy has attracted a dedicated base of users who spread the word about the platform to friends and colleagues. Its adherence to maintaining user privacy has also led to backlash when the platform adds new features like Signal PIN, which backs up certain data to the company’s servers and protects it behind a user’s PIN.

Signal’s new message request feature builds off of the private profiles feature they added over 2 and a half years ago. The team says that profiles are end-to-end encrypted and shared “via the same secure Signal Protocol messaging channel that already protects your conversations and calls.” The feature is designed to allow users to see more information about a person before they engage in the conversation.

Here’s how Signal explains the new feature in their blog post:

Incoming message requests are displayed using the sender’s Signal profile. Support for private profiles was added to Signal over two and a half years ago, but now we’ve cleaned up and simplified how they appear. Signal profiles are end-to-end encrypted and shared via the same secure Signal Protocol messaging channel that already protects your conversations and calls. This means that none of your profile information is ever accessible to the service.

If you’re included in a group conversation, rather than seeing a list of phone numbers, you’ll see the profiles of participants. If you’re chatting with someone already in your system contacts, a new icon in the header of conversations will be displayed. For voice and video chat, users will be required to approve message requests before their phone rings.

To support message requests, users will need to create a new Signal profile. The new features are available in Signal beginning today.

Signal Private Messenger (Free, Google Play) →

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[Update: Launched] Twitter is revamping its API with much-requested features for 3rd-party apps

Update 1 (08/13/2020 @ 03:20 PM ET): Twitter initially delayed the public launch of its new API because of the optics of launching it so soon after a big scandal, but the company has now launched the API nearly a month later. Scroll to the bottom for more information. The article as published on July 16, 2020, is preserved below.

Twitter is having an interesting week, to say the least. A day after numerous high-profile accounts were hijacked to promote cryptocurrency scams, leading to Twitter temporarily halting new tweets from many verified accounts, the social media company is announcing some big changes to its API. Twitter API v2, as they are calling it, is a new foundation that has been rebuilt for the first time since 2012. Some important changes will affect 3rd-party apps that we know and love.

As you may know, Twitter’s API has caused a lot of friction for 3rd-party app developers. Numerous popular Twitter clients have been pulled from the Play Store in the past due to reaching the controversial 100,000 token limit. Back in 2018, Twitter made changes that removed key features from 3rd-party developers. Those changes went into effect later that year despite a campaign from the developers of popular apps. Some of those key features will finally be made available to developers again with API v2.

Here’s Twitter’s brief explanation of what’s new in API v2:

• A cleaner API that’s easier to use, with new developer features like the ability to specify which fields get returned, or retrieve more Tweets from a conversation within the same response
• Some of the most requested features that were missing from the API, including conversation threading, poll results in Tweets, pinned Tweets on profiles, spam filtering, and a more powerful stream filtering and search query language

The last bullet point is what fans of 3rd-party Twitter apps should be most excited about. It’s pretty crazy to think that a 3rd-party client wasn’t allowed to show polls, thread conversations, or show pinned tweets. These are basic features of the social media platform that anyone would expect to see in a Twitter client, and it only harmed the Twitter experience for users who weren’t using the official app. We’re glad to see Twitter has opened these features up.

Previously, the Twitter API was separated into three tiers: Standard (free), Premium (self-serve paid), and Enterprise. API v2 will replace all three tiers with product tracks designed to fit different groups of developers. Twitter says the new tracks will hopefully have something for everyone. Here’s how the company describes the three product tracks:

• Standard: Available first, this will be the default product track for most developers, including those just getting started, building something for fun, for a good cause, and to learn or teach. We plan to add Elevated access to this track in the future.
• Academic Research: Academic researchers use the Twitter API to understand what’s happening in the public conversation. In the future, qualified academic researchers will have a way to get Elevated or Custom access to relevant endpoints. We’re also providing tools and guides to make it easier to conduct academic research with the Twitter API.
• Business: Developers build businesses on the Twitter API, including our Twitter Official Partners and enterprise data customers. We love that their products help other people and businesses better understand and engage with the conversation on Twitter. In the future, this track will include Elevated or Custom access to relevant endpoints.

Twitter realized the older pricing and rate limits were limiting developers, especially those who were just building stuff for fun. With these changes, we could see a resurgence of fun little Twitter tools and bots with the Standard track. Speaking of which, the Standard track is launching today, while the Business and Academic/Research tracks will arrive “soon.” Each track also contains Basic, Elevated, or Custom access levels. Pricing for the tracks has not been announced at this time.

Early access to the initial set of new endpoints will be available to all developers with the free, Basic access level. Developers interested in trying these features can sign up for a developer account and apply here to get started. The public roadmap is available on this Trello board for developers to track the progression of API v2.

Source: Twitter | Via: TechCrunch

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Update 1: Now Available

Twitter publicly detailed its new API for third-parties last month, but they delayed the release because the company was just recently the victim of a big social engineering attack. Yesterday, though, Twitter updated its official blog post to note that the new API has been launched. Interested developers can visit the new Twitter Developer Portal to get started.

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Google rolls out Google Meet, Chat, and Rooms tabs in Gmail for G Suite customers

Google has a lot of different tools for staying productive while working from home, including Meet, Chat, and Rooms. Now, the search giant is adding tabs for each service inside the Gmail app, but only for G Suite customers at this time.

Google announced the rollout for the new Meet, Chat, and Rooms tabs in a G Suite blog post on Thursday. The company first announced these changes for G Suite customers back in July during Cloud Next ’20.

The company said Gmail will now feature four distinct components for G Suite customers:

• Mail, which has not changed as is the same Gmail experience users know and love.
• Chat, which allows users to message individuals and small groups directly.
• Rooms, which are spaces that include shared chat, files, and tasks to help groups more easily work on projects.
• Meet, which features upcoming meetings that you can view and join.

Google is also making several quality-of-life changes so that users can more easily get work done. Users can now assign group tasks, get notified about task updates in rooms, pin important rooms, set your availability to “Do not disturb,” and much more.

By consolidating Google’s different services into Gmail, Google is making it easier than ever to stay in touch and on task. If you’re a G Suite user, the integrated experience is getting a gradual rollout and should be available in the next few weeks. Google hasn’t announced plans to enable Chat and Rooms tabs in the Gmail app for regular users, but the company has added a dedicated Meet tab for all users. Regular users can toggle the Meet tab by going to their Google account settings in the Gmail app and then scrolling down until they find the “show the Meet tab for video calling” option.

Gmail (Free, Google Play) →

Google Meet - Secure Video Meetings (Free, Google Play) →

Google Chat (Free, Google Play) →

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Fortnite circumvents Google Play fees with direct payment option

Epic Games on Thursday announced the Fortnite Mega Drop, a permanent discount on V-bucks and other purchases of up to 20% off. The developer said these changes are permanent and available on every platform where you can download Fortnite.

The bigger news, however, is the fact that Epic Games has introduced direct payments on mobile. The change means that Fortnite is circumventing the app store fees associated with Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store. If you don’t go with the direct payment option, the newly implemented discounts won’t apply. “Currently, when using Apple and Google payment options, Apple and Google collect a 30% fee, and the up to 20% price drop does not apply,” Epic Games said in a blog post. “If Apple and Google lower their fees on payments in the future, Epic will pass along the savings to you.”

If you choose the direct payment option, you’ll be brought to a screen where you can enter your credit card or PayPal information. With the discount, 1,000 V-bucks cost $7.99 — otherwise, the price is $9.99 due to the fees associated with Google and Apple payment options. If you recently purchased V-bucks in the last 30 days, players will be granted a V-bucks bonus by August 17. Epic also said that all active players will get the Shooting Starstaff Pickaxe for free.

Epic Games said that direct payments are perfectly safe and that many commonly used apps, including Grubhub, Fandango, McDonald’s, and many others, accept direct payments. “We think all developers should be free to support direct payments in all apps,” Epic Games said. “In operating Fortnite in open platforms and operating the Epic Games Store, Epic has processed over $1,600,000,000 of direct payments successfully, and uses industry trusted encryption and security measures to protect customer transactions.”

Epic Games has had a fraught relationship with Google Play from the beginning. When Fortnite originally launched on Android, you could only download it from Epic’s website or Samsung’s Galaxy Store. Eventually, however, Fortnite was put on Google Play, but not without Epic first blasting Google, saying the search giant puts software downloaded outside of Google Play at an unfair disadvantage.

Today’s announcement feels almost like a dare to Apple and Google to pull Fortnite from their respective app stores. With both Apple and Google under scrutiny from antitrust regulators and politicians, such a move would bring even more attention to both companies’ app store policies. We will be keeping an eye on this news to see how Apple and Google respond to Epic Games.

Fortnite (Free⁺, Google Play) →

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Samsung Galaxy Buds Live teardown showcases easy repairability and Bean references

Samsung’s new Galaxy Buds Live have scored an 8 out of 10 for repairability in iFixit’s recent teardown of the TWS earphones, higher than both the Galaxy Buds and Galaxy Buds+. Although the new earbuds are smaller and feature an atypical design, the Galaxy Buds Live aren’t difficult to pry open, and their wireless charging case is also easy to repair with the right set of tools.

The teardown reveals that the Galaxy Buds Live are powered by a rechargeable Varta CP1254 A3 battery, which is the same battery found within the original Galaxy Buds. iFixit notes that the button cell battery can be found online if you ever feel the need to replace the ones on your Galaxy Buds Live, however, they’re not as easy to find as they were previously.

The wireless charging case, on the other hand, features a 1.81Wh battery, which is substantially larger than the batteries found in the wireless charging cases for the older Galaxy Buds and Galaxy Buds+. Furthermore, the teardown reveals that most of the internal components are relatively modular and can be replaced independently.

iFixit also found that the ribbon cable connecting the two halves of each earbud states “bean left” and “bean right,” which suggests that Samsung internally referred to the earbuds as Beans before settling with the Galaxy Buds Live moniker. Check out the video linked above for a detailed look at the insides of the Galaxy Buds Live and its wireless charging case. As of now, iFixit hasn’t posted a repair guide for the Galaxy Buds Live, but it should go live on this page in the coming days.

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Google announces a new version of Wear OS based on Android 11 with Snapdragon Wear 4100 support

Wear OS by Google, or Android Wear as some of us still keep calling it despite the rebranding years ago, does not see as much attention in the daily news, but the wearable OS is still alive and kicking. New watches from Suunto, OPPO, and Xiaomi, as well as the launch of the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 4100 SoC for wearables, have rekindled interest in Wear OS to a degree. Now, as part of its #11WeeksOfAndroid announcements, Google has announced a new version of Wear OS that is based on Android 11 and supports Snapdragon Wear 4100.

Wear OS based on Android 11

Google is not explicitly announcing “Wear OS on Android 11” on their blog post, but they do mention that several Android 11 features will be arriving on Wear OS. We asked Google for a confirmation on this, and a  Google spokesperson has informed us that the new Wear OS version is based on Android 11. For reference, the current version of the wearable OS by Google is still based on Android 9 Pie, so this jump was needed.

The new Wear OS OTA update that will arrive in the fall brings along a fair few changes, which are summarized below:

• Faster access to info
• Simplified pairing process to make onboarding easier
• Improvements to the SysUI for more intuitive controls for managing different watch modes and workouts
• CPU Core improvements promising up to 20% speed improvements in startup times for apps
• Improved support for LTE
• Support for Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 4100 and 4100+ platforms

In addition to these changes, a few more changes are coming, which we have already previewed in the past. For instance, Google has built a handwashing timer in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, encouraging users to practice good hygiene.

The new update will also come along with the new Weather Tile design that was spotted earlier this month. This new design makes it easier to read information while on the move, and still retains access to an hourly breakdown of the day’s weather to help users plan ahead and provide information about the important weather alerts in the area.

Further, Google is also promising to make it easier for developers to build wearable apps. You can expect to see wearable-focused improvements and changes on Android Studio, Kotlin, and Jetpack libraries. Androidx.wear 1.1.0 Release Candidate build has also been released, making it easier to build and test wearable apps.

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What are your thoughts on Wear OS based on Android 11? Let us know in the comments below!

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NVIDIA GeForce NOW adds 12 new games and a Founders bundle with Hyper Scape

NVIDIA’s GeForce NOW game-streaming service enjoys its share in the now-crowded game streaming market on the fact that it was one of the first to appear for end consumers. The service started beta testing for Android last year and opened up for everyone in February. NVIDIA had pledged to announce new games for GeForce NOW every week, and over the past months, it has kept to that promise. This week, NVIDIA is giving GeForce NOW 11 new additions, including titles like Hyper Scape, Anno 2205, Neon Abyss, alongside Two Point Hospital as a returning title. Further, GeForce NOW is also adding in a Founders Bundle with Hyper Scape Season 1 battle pass.

These are the titles that have made their way to NVIDIA GeForce NOW this week:

• Steam:
  • Company of Crime
  • Ageless
  • Granado Espada
  • Neon Abyss
  • STORY OF SEASONS: Friends of Mineral Town
  • The Escapists
  • Warface
• Uplay:
  • Hyper Scape
  • Anno 2205
• Epic Games Store:
  • Remnant: From The Ashes
  • South Park: The Fracture But Whole
• Returning:
  • Two Point Hospital

Of these, Hyper Scape and Company of Crime are new game launches, having launched on August 11 and August 8 respectively on their platforms. Further, Remnant: From The Ashes is also available for free on the Epic Games Store from today till August 19.

In addition to the new titles available on GeForce Now, NVIDIA also said that it’s adding Highlights support to Hyper Scape. NVIDIA Highlights allows users to record exciting gameplay moments that can be shared later.

Further, NVIDIA is also offering new as well as existing members to sign up for a limited time, 6-month GeForce NOW Membership for $24.95, packing in additional content for Hyper Scape such as:

• Season One Battle Pass Token
• Exclusive Adi Volta Champion Skin (Rare)
• Exclusive Volta Drop Pod (Rare)
• Citric Dragonfly Weapon Skin (Rare)
• Boxer Shuffle Emote (Epic)

Existing Founders members will be able to stack this offer with their existing membership, meaning they will continue to receive their locked-in rate of $4.99 per month for 12 months, plus the 6-month membership from this Hyper Scape Bundle.

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NVIDIA GeForce NOW (Free, Google Play) →

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