Google is lowering commissions on all subscription-based businesses on the Google Play Store, the company announced today. Previously, the company had followed Apple’s move by reducing commissions from 30% to 15% on the first $1 million of developer earnings. Now, it will lower the fees specifically for app makers who generate revenue through recurring subscriptions. Instead of charging them 30% in the first year, which lowers to 15% in year two and beyond, Google says developers will… Source link
Read More »Google lowers Play Store fees for subscriptions and music streaming apps
As regulatory pressure on the Play Store for Android increases, Google is once again making changes to its business structure. It has announced that more categories of apps will be eligible to pay significantly less than the usual 30 percent fee. The company is announcing that all subscription-based apps will now pay a fee of 15 percent. It’s also says that “ebooks and on-demand music streaming services” will be “eligible” for a fee “as low as 10%.” Google’s stated reason… Source link
Read More »Google pulls ‘stalkerware’ ads that promoted phone spying apps – TechCrunch
Google has pulled several “stalkerware” ads that violated its policies by promoting apps that encouraged prospective users to spy on their spouses’ phone. These consumer-grade spyware apps are often marketed to parents wishing to monitor their child’s calls, messages, apps, photos and location, often under the guise of protecting against predators. But these apps, which are often designed to be installed surreptitiously and without the device owner’s consent, have been… Source link
Read More »200 Evil Android Apps Stole From 10 Million Phones
Millions of Android users were hit in a well-orchestrated premium text scam. Avishek Das/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images As many as 200 rogue Android apps made it onto the Google Play store, stealing people’s money by subscribing them to premium services without their consent, cybersecurity experts warned on Wednesday. Researchers at cybersecurity company Zimperium claimed that around 10 million Android phones were likely infected, scoring the… Source link
Read More »Google’s updated iOS 15 apps support Focus Mode and iPad widgets – TechCrunch
With , developers both big and small have started updating their apps to take advantage of the operating system’s marquee features. One of those is Google, which the iOS 15-related enhancements you can expect from its apps. The biggest change involves how Gmail, Meet, Tasks, Maps, Home and many of Google’s other applications will handle notifications. Should you have iOS 15’s new Focus Mode enabled, Google says prompts that don’t require your immediate… Source link
Read More »A decade and a half of instability: The history of Google messaging apps
Enlarge / Take the Google Messaging quiz! Can you name all the icons? Ron Amadeo Google Talk, Google’s first-ever instant messaging platform, launched on August 24, 2005. This company has been in the messaging business for 16 years, meaning Google has been making messaging clients for longer than some of its rivals have existed. But thanks to a decade and a half of nearly constant strategy changes, competing product launches, and internal… Source link
Read More »Google is kicking ‘sugar dating’ apps out of the Play Store
“Sugar dating” apps will not be allowed on the Android Play Store from September 1st, Google has announced as part of a series of policy changes for the platform. The change, which was first reported by Android Police, specifically prohibits apps relating to “compensated sexual relationships.” Other changes coming to the platform include a new crackdown on inactive developer accounts, Google says. Traditionally, sugar dating relationships involve older, wealthier individuals… Source link
Read More »Google unveils its proposed ‘safety section’ for apps on Google Play – TechCrunch
In the wake of Apple’s advances into consumer privacy with initiatives like App Tracking Transparency and App Store privacy labels, Google recently announced its own plans to introduce a new “safety section” on Google Play that offers more information about the data apps collect and share, and other security and privacy details. Today, the company is sharing for the first time what the new section’s user interface will look like, along with other requirements for developers. In… Source link
Read More »Google is making it easier to find Wear OS apps on the Play Store
As we approach the release of Google and Samsung’s joint smartwatch operating system later this year, Google today outlined some new Play Store improvements that will make it easier for customers to find and download apps to their Wear OS devices. The company is making it faster to search for smartwatch apps on your Android phone and instantly install them. There are new filters that are activated when you include “watch” or “watch face” in your Play Store search query. Based… Source link
Read More »Apple and Google crowd out the competition with default apps
If you use an iPhone or Android phone, chances are the majority of your most-used apps were made by Apple and Google. That’s the takeaway from a new Comscore study that ranks the popularity of preinstalled iOS and Android apps, such as Apple’s Messages, alongside apps made by other developers. The results show that the majority of apps people use on their phones in the US come preinstalled by either Apple or Google. The first-of-its-kind report was commissioned by Facebook, one of… Source link
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