Google is giving free $2-$5 Play Store credits to some Android users

Things are cheaper and almost free to get when we are approaching the year end. Black Friday is ongoing with almost every online shopping platforms. And we are announcing to you that Google is giving free credits worth $2-$5 to Android users using the Google Play Store. What are you still waiting for??? Go grab your offer now!!!

Want To Know If You Have Been Given The Credit?

It’s pretty easy, just open the Google Play store and navigate downward just after the first row of app suggestions. There might be a displaying banner offering a $2, $3 or $5 credit.

Meanwhile, every Pixel 2 or Pixel 2XL users receives a $2 credit while selected users get a $3 or $5 credit. To claim this offer, you’ll need to use the Playstore client on your Pixel phone. (For pixel users)

The credit is transferred to your Google Play balance for app or game purchase of any kind. However, it is limited to in-app subscriptions. Meanwhile, the non-Pixel credit is valid for 2 years.

Note: it could be that the offer is open to US only. However, if this is available in your country, please let us know in the comment box below.

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Best 10 Ways You Can Secure Your Gmail Account From Being Accessed By Cyber Criminals

Read the Top Best Methods To Secure Your Gmail Account From Being Accessed By Cyber Criminals

Gmail security

I have come across several methods that can be performed to prevent your Gmail Account from getting hacked.


Gmail accounts which are controlled by Google Inc are now vulnerable to hackers and the rate at which Gmail accounts are being hijacked by hackers is to a very high extent. We all know the usefulness of Gmail accounts being one of the best Email hosting platforms that can be used to access all Google Products with all in one username and password, yet all of a sudden it's gone. Sad as it may sound but do you know that we are actually the one creating room for hackers to access our accounts?

Let's go into the proper business for today.

Top 10 Tips To Employ To Secure Your Gmail Account From Cyber Threats

1. Avoidance of Phishing Mails.

Avoidance of phishing emails

Try never to open any phishing emails which are usually found in the Spam folder. You know, spam messages are automatically moved into the spam folder for safety purpose. Though if you think the messages are not really spam, then you can view the mail and follow the link. But if the mail doesn't attract any sign of trust from you please don't try clicking on the link as it may be a way of accessing your Gmail account.

You may receive an email carrying the following headlines...

• Your BVN has been deactivated.
• Your Amazon Shopping has been shipped.

WARNING>>> Do not click on the provided link.

Recommended: See how to recognize phishing Emails

2. Using Ugly Email

This is the type of Gmail usually used in recognizing tracking emails. To get this;
Just make a search for “Ugly Email“ in your  Google Chrome browser ( i recommend you should make the search in Chrome Web Store). Having seen the Ugly Email from your search result, just click “Add to Chrome” and a new tab will be opened.
This Ugly Email will be added to your Chrome and you can find it at the top right corner of your Chrome browser.

Now to know if your Ugly Email is rocking well, log into your Gmail account and open existing emails or even new emails and if you should ever see a nasty eye that is somehow devilish in any of the mail you opened, then you should know it is a tracking email.

3. Try Using A Secure Connection

This a very important task you must carry on when logging in your Gmail account.

Try using the secure connection that is seen as HTTPS usually before the web address.

To do this:

Go to Setting»»General»»Browser Connection or better still, you should try using VPN like UltraSurf or VPN Robot for login.


To get UltraSurf on your browser, it's an extension so just go to Settings»»Extensions, scroll down to the end and click “add more extensions”, from the displayed interface make use of the search bar by searching for UltraSurf and from your result click “Add to Chrome”.

So whenever you are browsing with the browser, your connection becomes anonymous, though you can disable the UltraSurf if you wish not to use it for some websites.

4. Always Check Filter Forwarding and POP/IMAP

You really need to take this so serious as hackers may try adding filters to your Gmail account. These filters can secretly pass on emails so long the filter remains in your Gmail account.

To be on a safer side, try getting rid of any filters that look suspicious to you.

5. Try Using Incognito.

Chrome incognito mode

This may sometimes be useful most especially when you are surfing the internet with public devices found in places like Cyber Cafe, hotel and/or others. The usefulness of this Incognito or Private browser is to help you secure your connection so as not allowing cookies to store your web activities.

Recommended: How to Protect Your Android Smartphone From Hackers

6. Google 2 Step Login Verification

Google 2-step verification

This is one of the best security provided by Google. Each time you try to log in from another device, having given your login credentials, you'll be asked to take any of the following google login verification process;

• Text me a code
• Provide your backup Gmail account ( if any)
• Using google authentication app and others.

But I'm only in support of the text code as it is the safest means of verifying you are the one trying to log in. Of course, the hacker can never provide the security code sent to your device to log in.

7. Track your Account Activities

Google - My activity

This is a very important task you should always do. You should always keep an eye on your Gmail account to track every activity going on in your account.

To do this, just log in to My account and at the lower right corner of the platform, you will see “Last Account Activity” just click on details. There, you will see the devices accessing your account as well as the time and location they logged in. So if you notice any unauthorized login, all you have to do is change your password at that moment before the hacker does something else.

8. Avoid ignoring Gmail security alert.

Most of us usually make this nasty mistake of ignoring security alerts sent by Google. You should know that Google only send those security alerts when they feel it's necessary for you to update your security. It may be that they noticed something fishy concerning your account and to make sure it's not hacked, they'll send you an alert to update your security.

9. Try removing apps connected to your account

Do you know that apps are connected to your Gmail account? Whenever you use your Gmail to sign up for any third-party app, they are automatically connected to your Gmail account. Hackers can even try to connect an app to your account via play store and other means. So I recommend you should always remove unauthorized apps from your account by logging into www.accounts.google.com.

10. Always update your number.

Never forget to always keep your mobile number up-to-date and if you should ever lose your phone number then try getting a new one and link it to your Gmail account because that's what google will always use to send you a security code.

Other Tips include:

• Do not disclose your password.
• Use a recovery email, that is, a secondary email.

So above are the methods of securing your Gmail account from getting accessed by hackers. I hope I've been able to provide adequate security tips for securing your Gmail account.  Please kindly share this post with others using the share buttons provided below.

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Google is soon to fix the much long Pixel 2 Camera bug

A fix is coming to the Pixel 2 camera issue which has been active since launch

A question on Twitter last weekend probe Google to announce its acknowledgement of the "fatal camera error" bug affecting the Pixel 2 devices.

Users of the Pixel 2 device had a bug with the device's camera and the earliest complaint was online on November 2, two weeks after the device was released in October 19. The bug was noticed when users no longer have the good fun of taking pictures for memory keeping sake. This is as a result of the camera sometimes getting to crash when launched or trying to take a picture. Though, there have been some temporary fix which has been helping users get rid of it. Restoring factory settings and clearing the camera app cache in the setting has been two friendly short-term fix to the bug.

Know this: New features will be coming to Google web browser soon. Check out! 

Pixel 2 users will be very pleased to hear that Google is currently working on a fix to the annoying camera bug. This news was captured from the reply by Google to one affected user who has found the temporary fix tips unhelpful.

We're sorry that the workaround didn't help, Ciara. Our team is looking into this and are working on a fix. Appreciate your understanding.

— Made by Google (@madebygoogle) 8 July 2018

However, let's be reminded that the Pixel 3 and 3XL devices are soon to be launch in next three months. Hopefully, we shall be having a successor of the Pixel 2 and 2XL flagships which we believe Google will be firing out more stunning and awesome features packed with the anticipating Pixel 3 and 3XL flagships.

Google Pixel / Google Pixel 2 / Google Pixel 2XL

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Another Amazing Feature Just Got Received on Google Chrome For Android

Google Chrome is the most used web browser  on both Desktop and Smartphone devices especially Android, and it was developed and being controlled by the tech-giant Google.
Google Chrome browser is winning the pleasure of many users into the world and has got more features much enough for a user to make it his/her preferred browser.

Today, we are announcing to you that Google has implemented an amazing new feature on it's Chrome web browser. What is this feature all about?


Remember when you want to switch between tabs on Google Chrome for Android and the app displays a vertical list of open tabs with the others superimposed on one tab which you might find it difficult to hover between them.
Google has made a change to the display when you need to switch tabs.
The new Google Chrome browser is designed to make flaps horizontal.

The app places the screens side by side, making the screen look a little neat since it would display fewer tabs per time. This is preferable instead of the usual placing of tabs superimposed on one tab.

This new interface of Chrome is available in the latest version of Chrome Canary, an alternative of Chrome browser designed for experimental analysis.

To experiment the change you need to install Chrome Canary on your Android device.

Hover to the app's address bar and type “chrome://flags” then search for “Enable horizontal tab switcher” and enable the option. Restart the browser with the “Relaunch Now” button displaying on the screen.

Please be aware that the test does not warrant that the change will be implemented to the default version of Chrome browser. However, in some cases, changes performed in Chrome Canary are avoided even before a great number of users receives it.

What do you think about this change that is coming to the default Chrome browser? Is it really amazing as this post suggests?

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Samsung Galaxy Note 8 to start receiving Oreo update

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is the next smartphone to receive the Android 8.0 Oreo OS update. This was confirmed by T-Mobile product manager, Des who published a tweet on twitter.

THIS JUST IN! @TMobile #GalaxyNote8 #Android #Oreo update approved! Will start hitting customers phones as early as Sunday night!!! (No April Fool's here) 🤘 - Des pic.twitter.com/r1yEl2myMW

— Des 📷 📱 (@askdes) March 30, 2018

Des says the Oreo update will start rolling out to all Samsung Galaxy Note 8 device starting from April 1.

Reports from AT&T says that users of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 on Sprint are receiving Android 8.0 Oreo update.

The new OS update is now available for the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 launched in the US with N950USQU3CRC2 as the build number. The update size is about 1330MB (that is 1.3GB) and it comes with the March 2018 Security patch. Also with this Oreo update being available to Samsung Galaxy Note 8 includes the Samsung Experience version 9.0, Oreo’s Picture-in-Picture, Autofill feature and more…

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Google bans Uncertified Android devices from accessing Google Apps

New Security Check from Google!

Google is blocking unregistered/non-recognized devices from accessing Google apps, but there's an exception for Custom ROMs.

Android devices are much fun and easy to use with its designed Operating System by the tech-giant Google.


In as much as there are many Android brands manufactured by various companies, Google distributes its OS to these manufacturers, offering them legal certification for use of Google products. However, many other manufacturers don't get this legal approval but forces their Android brands to get all of Google products.

If you distribute Google’s official Android apps (such as the Play Store, Hangout, Chrome, Maps, etc.) on your Android device, it means the device is certified by Google.

Devices like Amazon’s Fire OS tablets and most Chinese smartphones sold in China do not get the legal certification from Google. These non-certified devices are not supposed to contain Google apps on them. But most users usually find their way to slideloading Google’s apps at the time of their need for them. Moreover, some unworthy manufacturers ship Google software without getting Google certification.

Also Read: Google Datally App Could Help Save Your Mobile Data; See How it Works

How Is Google's New Plan Going To Work???

Here's the breakdown;

This time, if you attempt to run Google apps on your Android device, Google checks the build date of your Android system image. If your device is non-licensed and is running a version of the Android OS that was compiled after March 16th, 2018, Google apps won't run. Say goodbye to slideloading.

For Custom ROM users, there's a way out!

Custom ROM users who like to download specially designed version of Android can now register their device with their Android ID to permit Google apps to run on it. Though, there's a limit of 100 device per user which might not be convenient for highly producing ROM testers.

Also Read: See how Google makes personalized battery

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Google: Datally App Could Help You Restrain Which App(s) Eat Your Data The Most

Datally by Google could seamlessly limit your data usage and stop every other apps except those actively in use.

Android devices are becoming more addictive and user-friendly with Google's Intelligence.
Google wants you to enjoy more features on Android and has introduced an app called Datally designed to help you control which third-party apps installed on your Android device can make use of your internet data.



Google is launching another elegant and useful app that does what every Android users want- helping them manage their data usage.

This app called Datally will help you analyze your data usage bringing up statistics for how much data you have spent over a specified interval, even on a specified app. It will make you understand where your data is going. Datally will reveal to you which apps consumes your data most frequently and will also indicate what time your data is being consumed.

Datally will also suggest means to limit data usage according to your activities and explores nearby Wi-Fi networks so you can connect to and save your data.

Launching the app is a big button at the top that lets you stop all background data usage except the active app onscreen that will only be permitted to use mobile data. To know how much data is being consumed by your currently running app, a pop up chat-head style bubble will tell. You may not want to block every single app using the background, Datally provides you with the permission to control data usage on an app by app basis.

Also Read: Google explains how it makes personalized battery life prediction for your Android

Datally is Google's next app to have over billions of users across the world, the aim of this, is to promote all Google products in all regions of the earth. Datally will be very useful for countries with limited mobile connections and lower-end hardware on the spread. The product manager guiding Datally, Josh Woodward, stated the reason the app was designed, saying the thought came from the bountiful numbers of people going the way of preserving data especially in some countries like India, Nigeria, Delhi where data plans are similarly expensive. He further stated that these users often turn on their airplane mode when they're less busy with their smartphone in order to preserve their data plan. To let apps’ notifications rush in, they turn off the Airplane mode and later turn it back on while they look through the notifications.



Datally is mainly a storage management - specifically limiting Android user's data usage, as it's the reason it takes a little 6MB space for installation.

Datally may not be useful for everyone. If you're that user always with Android, Datally may not sound good. By default, almost every function of the app is built into Android directly, though are not visible in the settings menu and are not as quite elegantly seen as it appears inside Datally. This will make it much easier for people to find and remember to use.

Limiting your background data usage will cause your phone to low experience, as apps may not refresh its content on the background, and apps’ notifications may not be able to rush into your phone.
But if you're that who consistently shut against your data to preserve your data plan, Datally is meant for you as it will enable you to locate the source of the problem.

Also Read: Facebook Artificial Intelligence to read & detect suicidal thoughts on posts

Recently, since this summer, Google has been testing Datally in the Philippines and has observed that it has been able to save people, with 30 percent of their data. The company says the app has hit over 500,000 users. And currently, it's being rolled out to other parts of the world with only users of Android running on 5.0 and above will be able to download and install the app from Google Play.

CONCLUSION
Datally is a very effective app and user-friendly for those who have always wanted to save and limit their data usage.

Tags: Datally, features of datally, Google datally, datally for android

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Google explains how it makes personalized battery life estimation for smartphones

I love everything Google! The company has revealed to the public how it makes personalized battery life predictions for smartphones today.

Image credit: PhoneArena.com

The battery is a unique specification of every smartphone, it is among the most notable specs anyone must know before thinking of getting that phone. Having a durable battery in your smartphone will make it more meaningful and do lots of task with the phone.



It's no hidden that the kind of battery we see made to smartphones of nowadays are even more durable than before, though do not match with the advancement of other components like displays,  processors, sensors. Moreover, we still need to charge our smartphone overnight.

Google has recently introduced a simpler and useful smart battery stats that can estimate your remaining battery life according to your smartphone usage.

Before now, Google would estimate your battery life by simple postulations. They assume your battery life to last for some time based on your usage in certain percentage per time. For example, you can consume 20% of your battery life for the first 1 hour, it would then assume that you'll use 20% every hour. These estimations are sometimes not true and narrow.



Thanks to Google for making the process a little simpler. According to Android Authority, the feature was said to have rolled out last month when Google added a system app called ‘Device Health Services' to the Play Store.
On the Pixel Products forum, a Project manager with Google's New York office explained how the smart battery life prediction operates.

Also Read: Google Play's Music most frustrating swipe-to-delete bug got fixed

With the Google's improved technical know-how on the process, it establishes an idea based on your past usage which will then be used to estimate your future usage. It examines your usage model on frequent times to measure how much battery usage you'll use throughout the rest of the day. Know that it studies your habit and tasks you perform frequently with your phone-- for example, if you always listen to podcast or stream videos on YouTube, it now takes note of that and expect the tasks every day and can modify its predicted battery life to be in accordance.

There's a battery graph Google uses to show you the predicted battery life usage for the remaining hours of the day, in addition to providing you with an estimation of how much battery time is remaining.
With the graph, you can see when Google predicts your smartphone will be more useful as the line reduces.

Image credit: AndroidAuthority.com

This battery life prediction, for now, is only available to the Pixel 2 and Nexus 6P running the Android 8.1 Developer Preview.

Also Read: How to take long scrolling screenshot on any Android phone

Conclusion
This battery life prediction is more effective than the previous method of estimating usage. With this process, you can easily get rid of low battery at the most useful moment.

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Your Android phone has been sending location data to Google without your permission

This is intrusive!
Did you know? Your Android device has been sending your location to Google even without you granting permission.

Tech companies like Facebook, Google, and other software seeking GPS permission often seek our location for proper rendering of their services to us. By default, we decide whether or not should our location be shared with these online platforms, even with the tech-giant Google. Sometimes we agree on this base on the terms of service of a company like Google. Currently, with Android and Google, it's as if we are no right to dictate if our location data should be shared.



An investigation by Quartz has made us know that our Android devices do not really need our permission before it sends our location to Google. This is security issue we are dealing with.

According to the investigation by Quartz, it was revealed that devices like Smartphones and Tablets running on the Android Operating System forcefully impose location tracking on the user whether or not the location services were enabled. Even when there was no SIM card on the phone, no app was installed, yet the Android device could still track user’s location, as long as the smartphone was connected to the internet. This is achieved by transmitting the address of close cellphone towers back to Google’s system that's used for messages and push notifications.



But there's a section of the Google's terms of service, which is a bit confusing, it reads:

“When you use Google services, we may collect and process information about your actual location. We use various technologies to determine location, including IP address, GPS, and other sensors that may, for example, provide Google with information on nearby devices, Wi-Fi access points and cell towers.”

Also Read: How to take long scrolling screenshot on any Android device

This process could be safe, the data transferred to Google is encrypted. It could also be a threat to user's privacy if, for example, the user's device has been compromised by a third party containing malicious contents like spyware or other hacking means which could potentially receive these data.
This is really not a good thing because it seems like Google is betraying the public’s trust.
According to Gizmodo, they contacted Google regards these reports and a spokesperson told them;

“To ensure messages and notifications are received quickly, modern Android phones use a network sync system that requires the use of Mobile Country Codes (MCC) and Mobile Network Codes (MNC). In January of this year, we began looking into using Cell ID codes as an additional signal to further improve the speed and performance of message delivery. However, we never incorporated Cell ID into our network sync system, so that data was immediately discarded, and we updated it to no longer request Cell ID. MCC and MNC provide necessary network information for message and notification delivery and are distinctly separate from Location Services, which provide a device’s location to apps.”

According to a claim from Google, the feature never got to be implemented, and the team have all concluded to discard it completely.
However, according to Gizmodo, a Google spokesperson responded to us that by the end of November, Android devices will stop the habit of sending cellular tower location data to Google.

Conclusion
We all know Google is trying its best to make out reliable security and favourable services to everyone who uses any of its products and services, and this is achieved by collecting our data in exchange. But all I'm saying is, whatever Google is trying to implement on us, we should be aware of it and also have the decision to either opt in or out.

Source: Gizmodo, Quartz

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