Software & Apps News - Page 54

The latest and most important Software & Apps news - Page 54.

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TikTok banned from any government-issued phone under 'security threat'

Jak Connor | Dec 22, 2019 12:35 AM CST

TikTok is without a doubt spreading like wildfire, but if you are a member of the US Navy and want to enjoy some short, quirky videos, don't hold your breath.

TikTok banned from any government-issued phone under 'security threat'

Reuters has reported that the United States Navy has banned the use of TikTok on any government-issued mobile devices. Why have they done this? Allegedly, the app's software created by ByteDance poses a "cybersecurity threat" to personal information.

Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Uriah Orland didn't specify what this "cybersecurity threat" was, but he did warn all Navy troops to be very mindful of the app, and asked everyone to "safeguard their personal information." Orland also said that this ban was an effort to "address existing and emerging threats". Due to TikTok being owned by Chinese company ByteDance, the US military could be safeguarding their hardware from potential information scraping software that could be in TikTok.

Continue reading: TikTok banned from any government-issued phone under 'security threat' (full post)

Facebook working on OS from scratch, wants to break up with Android

Anthony Garreffa | Dec 20, 2019 10:39 PM CST

Facebook is reportedly working on its own operating system, in the hopes that sometime in the future it can pull back its reliance on Android. A new report from The Information says that the co-author of Windows NT, Mark Lucovsky, is leading the project.

Facebook working on OS from scratch, wants to break up with Android

We don't know how Facebook's own OS would work exactly, but we do know that Facvebook currently uses a modified version of Android to run its Oculus and Portal devices. Facebook's head of hardware, Andrew Bosworth, explains: "We really want to make sure the next generation has space for us. We don't think we can trust the marketplace or competitors to ensure that's the case. And so we're gonna do it ourselves".

Ficus Kirkpatrick, one of the bosses of Facebook's internal AR and VR departments, says that "it's possible" that future Facebook hardware won't rely on Android. Right now, Google has a nice stranglehold over Facebook's hardware, and Facebook sees that as a big issue, that it is now trying to resolve.

Continue reading: Facebook working on OS from scratch, wants to break up with Android (full post)

Microsoft Office is the most commonly exploited application in 2019

Jak Connor | Dec 20, 2019 3:04 AM CST

Information has been gathered by PreciseSecurity that reveals a list of the most commonly exploited applications in the third quarter of 2019.

Microsoft Office is the most commonly exploited application in 2019

According to PreciseSecurity, Microsoft Office solutions and applications are the most commonly exploited applications around the world. The data taken over the third quarter of 2019 shows that 72.85% of cyber exploits are done in Microsoft Office products.

The following software applications that come after Microsoft Office are: web browsers with 13.47%, Android with 9.09%, Java with 2.36%, Adobe Flash with 1.57%, and PDF with 0.66%. So, where are these cyber exploits coming from? PreciseSecurity traced the exploits back to five top countries. The United States with 79.16% of exploits, the Netherlands with 15.58%, Germany with 2.35%, France with 1.85%, and Russia with 1.05%. For more information about the exploits check out this link here.

Continue reading: Microsoft Office is the most commonly exploited application in 2019 (full post)

Twitter trolls cause seizures in epileptic users with flashing videos

Jak Connor | Dec 19, 2019 2:47 AM CST

The Epilepsy Foundation has filed an official criminal complaint with law enforcement agencies for what they consider as attacks on users with epilepsy.

Twitter trolls cause seizures in epileptic users with flashing videos

According to the report, Twitter trolls have been using the Epilepsy Foundation Twitter handle as a way of distributing flashing videos or strobing lights to a number of people with epilepsy. The Epilepsy Foundation says that these posts, which are photosensitive visual patterns, were posted to trigger epileptic people into seizures.

Jacqueline French, M.D., chief medical and innovation officer of the Epilepsy Foundation and professor of Neurology at NYU Langone Health's Comprehensive Epilepsy Center said, "Flashing lights at certain intensities or certain visual patterns can trigger seizures in those with photosensitive epilepsy. While the population of those with photosensitive epilepsy is small, the impact can be quite serious. Many are not even aware they have photosensitivity until they have a seizure."

Continue reading: Twitter trolls cause seizures in epileptic users with flashing videos (full post)

Instagram rolls out new collage layout feature to Instagram Stories

Jak Connor | Dec 18, 2019 4:16 AM CST

Instagram has just rolled out a new feature for the layout section of Instagram Stories. This new feature will allow users to create a cool collage.

Instagram rolls out new collage layout feature to Instagram Stories

The news was announced via the official Instagram Twitter account, which says that users can now capture and share multiple photos in their stories. The new update adds a collage feature that allows users to choose between two and six photos to combine together.

Instagram are continuously thinking of new innovative ways to keep its userbase using their stories section and not go back over to Snapchat. Or on the other side of the fence - attract Snapchat users over to Instagram. Instagram will no doubt, continue to add new features to their layout section, that will be designed to attract new users and keep their regular ones.

Continue reading: Instagram rolls out new collage layout feature to Instagram Stories (full post)

Instagram's AI thinks the word 'stupid' is too offensive for a caption

Jak Connor | Dec 17, 2019 1:07 AM CST

Social media platforms are in a perpetual war against 'harmful' content, and are always looking for new ways to keep the users on their platform safe.

Instagram's AI thinks the word 'stupid' is too offensive for a caption

Instagram is now the latest social media platform to launch an attack on potentially harmful content, and it's all in the name of keeping their user base safe. Instagram's AI will now officially comb through each caption to every image uploaded to its servers and determine whether or not the caption that the Instagram user chose is potentially harmful.

How does this work? Instagram's AI will take a user's caption and then compare it to the log of previously flagged 'harmful' comments, and if the caption is similar to these comments, the AI will send the Instagram user a push notification regarding their caption. Basically, Instagram's AI is fed data (flagged comments) and then uses that data as a benchmark for what is "offensive" or potentially "harmful". Then if anything comes close to that benchmark, warnings are sent out to the users who have crossed the line.

Continue reading: Instagram's AI thinks the word 'stupid' is too offensive for a caption (full post)

Best iTunes Alternatives for macOS Catalina and Windows 2020

Sponsored Content | Dec 15, 2019 11:11 PM CST

Your Windows and macOS Catalina just need a better start without iTunes this year. For Windows users, iTunes has long been out-dated. For macOS users, the love-hate relationship with iTunes is becoming more complex as they jump on the boat of macOS Catalina.

Best iTunes Alternatives for macOS Catalina and Windows 2020

Since the old iTunes has been replaced by three new apps on Catalina, some consider themselves trapped in Apple's money-sucking whirlpool.

And it's not just for Mac users. Legacy iTunes, for example, on Windows is also a long-standing headache. So, if you set out to find an iTunes alternatives for macOS Catalina and Windows 10, here we have a few listed for different purposes - for data syncing, management and music/video playback, respectively.

Continue reading: Best iTunes Alternatives for macOS Catalina and Windows 2020 (full post)

Google marries private messaging and Google Photos with new feature

Jak Connor | Dec 4, 2019 1:10 AM CST

Google has brought a new feature to its Google Photo's app, and this new feature encourages people to share their snaps with their friends and family.

Google marries private messaging and Google Photos with new feature

Google has taken to its official Twitter account to announce that Google Photos now allows users to share their images with friends inside the app. According to Janvi Shah, product manager at Google Photos, "This feature isn't designed to replace the chat apps you already use, but we do hope it improves sharing memories with your friends and family in Google Photos".

This feature uses the recipient's Gmail address as a means of sending an image to someone and can be done by pressing on an image and tapping the 'share' option. Users can like photos, comment in the conversation, and even save sent images to their own galleries. Google says on their blogpost that this feature will be rolling out for both Android and iOS over the next few days. Be sure to update your Google Photo's app on whatever platform you are on to receive this new feature.

Continue reading: Google marries private messaging and Google Photos with new feature (full post)

Twitter won't be removing inactive accounts until further notice

Jak Connor | Nov 28, 2019 1:45 AM CST

Following up on yesterday's post regarding Twitter announcing a purge of inactive accounts across their platform, the social media platform has now stopped in their tracks until further notice.

Twitter won't be removing inactive accounts until further notice

Since yesterday's announcement of the coming purge planned for this December, Twitter has taken to their support account on their platform to announce that the purge won't be happening. This halt in their plans is due to many users concerns over Twitter potentially removing accounts of deceased people.

Twitter has said that this "was a miss on our part" and that they will now "not be removing any inactive accounts until we create a new way for people to memorialize accounts." Twitter also detail that for the time being the inactive account removals (when they go ahead) will only be in EU for now, "We're starting with the EU in part due to local privacy regulations (eg, GDPR)."

Continue reading: Twitter won't be removing inactive accounts until further notice (full post)

Google finally adds manual photo tagging to Google Photos

Jak Connor | Nov 28, 2019 1:14 AM CST

While Google Photos is definitely a great app to have on your phone, its certainly not perfect in every way possible. Google has finally rolled out a much-needed update to the app, and I bet many android users appreciative.

Google finally adds manual photo tagging to Google Photos

Since this update, Google Photo's users weren't able to pull up photos and manually tag friends, family, or just general people. Tagging people on Google Photos allows users to search their entire Google Photos by that person's specific tag. An example of this would be if I had a friend named Mitchell and Google recognized that he was in lots of my photos and added his tag based on his face.

I could then search "Mitchell", and all of the photos he is in that Google have detected will be pulled up for me. If you are interested in finding out how to access this new feature, follow the following steps. Select a photo in Google Photos, swipe up to get the photo menu, locate the pencil icon to the right of "people," tap that icon, and manually add names in. It should also be noted that this feature will only work on images that Google detects a face being present.

Continue reading: Google finally adds manual photo tagging to Google Photos (full post)