Android Update | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

You might have read somewhere online today that Google is granting Android app developers powers to forcefully install app updates…but it is not true. Instead, the tech giant is providing a new feature that will help users to have up-to-date Android apps all the time and yes, it's optional. Along with the launch of a number of new tools and features at its Android Dev Summit 2018 , Google has also launched the a new API, called "In-app Updates," which aims to help developers ensure that users are running the latest and greatest version of their app. "We've heard that you'd like more controls to ensure that users are running the latest and greatest version of your app. To address this, we're launching an In-app Updates API," Google said . How Does Android's New In-app Updates API Work? It should be noted that the Android's new In-app Updates API doesn't force or lock out users from the app if they chose not to update it. In...

If you have bet on Peppermint, Pancake or Pastry for "P" in the next version of Google's mobile operating system, sorry guys you lose because Android P stands for Android Pie . Yes, the next version of sugary snack-themed Android and the successor to Android Oreo will now be known as Android 9.0 Pie , and it has officially arrived, Google revealed on Monday. Android 9 Pie — 5 Best New Features Google says Android Pie comes with a "heaping helping of artificial intelligence baked in to make your phone smarter, simpler, and more tailored to you." 1.) AI-Powered Adaptive Battery Despite Google has made its efforts since it brought a power saving mode called Doze in  Android 6.0 Marshmallow , Battery life has always been a big concern for people. Android 9 Pie introduces a new feature called "Adaptive Battery," which uses machine learning to learn which apps you use most and prioritize battery for them accordingly. "Android 9 int...

Security of Android devices has been a nightmare since its inception, and the biggest reason being is that users don't receive latest security patch updates regularly. Precisely, it's your device manufacturer (Android OEMs) actually who takes time to roll out security patches for your devices and sometimes, even has been caught lying about security updates , telling customers that their smartphones are running the latest updates. Since Google did not have direct control over the OEM branded firmware running on billions of devices, it brought some significant changes to the Android system architecture last year with Project Treble gain more control over the update process. Although Google and device manufacturers have made some progress in the past year, the problem with the security update remains because of OEMs not delivering all patches regularly and on a timely basis, leaving parts of the Android ecosystem exposed to hackers. But here's good news—starting wi...

A bittersweet Christmas and New Year for users and fans of the most popular custom Android ROM, Cyanogen OS. Cyanogen that tried and failed to kill Google's Android operating system is now shutting down the custom services that it provides to phones that run its Cyanogen OS as we know it and the "nightly builds" of said OS on December 31st. Cyanogen came with an ambition to build better versions of the Android operating system than those created by Google itself, but following some technical and potential legal issues, the startup has decided to quit. The planned shutdown of Cyanogen was officially announced late Friday through a very brief blog post made by the company, saying "as part of the ongoing consolidation of Cyanogen," it's shutting down all services and nightly builds on December 31. "The open source project and source code will remain available for anyone who wants to build CyanogenMod personally," the blog reads. What ...

Google has released the February Security Update for Android that patches multiple security vulnerabilities discovered in the latest version of Android operating system. In total, there were five "critical" security vulnerabilities fixed in the release along with four "high" severity and one merely "moderate" issues. Remote Code Execution Flaw in WiFi A set of two critical vulnerabilities has been found in the Broadcom WiFi driver that could be exploited by attackers to perform Remote Code Execution (RCE) on affected Android devices when connected to the same network as the attacker. The vulnerabilities (CVE-2016-0801 and CVE-2016-0802) can be exploited by sending specially crafted wireless control message packets that can corrupt kernel memory, potentially leading to remote code execution at the kernel level. "These vulnerabilities can be triggered when the attacker and the victim are associated with the same network," read...

While majority of smartphone users are waiting for Android 5.0 Lollipop update for their devices, Google is soon going to launch the next version of Android at its official Google I/O 2015 developer event May 28 in San Francisco. Android M — The name of the latest version of Android mobile operating system was spotted at the Google I/O 2015 schedule under the " Android for Work Update " Session, which says… " Android M is bringing the power of Android to all kinds of workplaces. " According to the company, this will open up " huge new markets for hundreds of Millions of devices to workers at small businesses, logistics, deskless workers, and warehousing jobs. " However, Google appears to have since removed any mention of Android M from Google's I/O website, most probably the company wants to keep it as a surprise for Android users. Considering the full Android releases with starting letters in alphabetical order, — Android M — s...