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Android 15 could bring better third-party camera apps to Galaxy phones

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While Android is more open than iOS and iPadOS, there is one area where Android apps have always lagged: third-party camera apps. The Android ecosystem has struggled because third-party apps can’t access some camera features. However, that can change with Android 15, as Google has added a new feature that allows third-party camera apps to perform better while recording videos.

Third-party camera apps on Android can now record smoother videos using Camera2 API

Almost all Android smartphones use the Camera2 API to capture images and videos. This API offers extensions used by smartphone brands to third-party camera app developers. In Android 14, the Camera2 API has five extensions: Auto, Bokeh, Face Retouch, HDR, and Night. However, not all smartphone brands use all these extensions. For example, Samsung has used all these extensions for the cameras on its phones, but Google has only used the Night extension. Moreover, these extensions are only used for camera previews and the capture of still images. They can’t be used for recording videos.

Android 15 Camera2 API Eyes Free Videography Extension Developer Settings

With Android 15, Google is adding a new Camera2 extension called Eyes Free Videography (spotted by Mishaal Rahman). As its name suggests, this extension can be used to record videos. This API “aims to lock and stabilize a given region or object of interest” and could point to electronic image stabilization for videos. Third-party camera apps that use the Camera2 API (like Snapchat) can use this extension to record smoother videos.

While basic stabilization is already offered to third-party camera apps, advanced EIS implemented by Android smartphone brands is locked or changes from one brand/model to another. So, it is tough for third-party app developers to offer the same performance on smartphones from different brands. This new Eyes Free Videography extension should bring better video stabilization on most Android phones.

The story continues after the video below, where you can watch some advanced video recording features implemented by Samsung on the Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Hopefully, Android smartphone brands like Samsung and Xiaomi will use this new extension in their camera apps. If they do, third-party camera apps on Android will be able to offer similar-quality video recording, which should narrow the gap with third-party camera apps on iOS and iPadOS.

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Tired of ads in Windows 11? This free, straightforward third-party app might be just what you need to cut down the number of ads on your PC

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If you’re a Windows 11 user who isn’t quite ready to leave the operating system behind but would like a break from seeing ads all over the place, I have some news that might make you feel better. There’s a free app that cuts out ads to make your Windows 11 experience a little less frustrating – it’s called OFGB, which amusingly stands for ‘Oh Frick Go Back.’ 

OFGB makes use of your system’s Windows Registry to disable all kinds of ads, including File Explorer ads, Lock Screen tips and tricks, Settings ads, “Finish Setup” ads, “Welcome Experience” ads, personalized ads, “Tailored Experiences, and Start Menu ads. It’s easy to use, and you can pick and pick and choose which of these you’d like to turn off by simply ticking the appropriate boxes (frankly, I’d recommend turning them all off).

How to get your hands on OFGB

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Third-party apps may be able to integrate Digital Wellbeing with Android 15

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Last updated: May 8th, 2024 at 10:52 UTC+02:00

Google introduced the Digital Wellbeing feature in Android to improve people’s screen usage habits. It can help them limit their screen time by changing settings things like screen brightness and colors, notifications, and ring modes. However, only the Digital Wellbeing app can change screen settings, but that could change soon.

Android 15 opens up Digital Wellbeing to third-party apps

According to a new report from Android Authority’s Mishaal Rahman, Google will allow third-party apps to control screen settings via Digital Wellbeing integration. With Android 15, there is a new public API (ZenDeviceEffects API) that third-party app developers can use to control the screen options managed by Google’s Digital Wellbeing app. These options include Always On Display, Minimize Color Saturation (Grayscale), Night Mode (Dark Mode), Suppressing Ambient Display, and Wallpaper Dimming.

One of the best automation apps available on Android, Tasker, has already implemented this new API. You can use it to create advanced Bedtime Mode routines. For example, you can trigger Bedtime Mode routines by tapping an NFC tag beside your bed. Maybe Samsung will integrate those APIs into its Modes & Routines app.

Google introduced this new API with Android 15 Developer Preview 2. The company may add even more screen options (like Adaptive Brightness and Tap To Wake) or tweak it before releasing the stable version of Android 15 in the next few months. Samsung has already started developing the One UI 7.0 update internally, and it would be great if Modes & Routines and SmartThings apps got some integration options with Digital Wellbeing.

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Google Chrome delays third-party cookies plan yet again

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In a frankly unsurprising change of course, Google has once again delayed the end of third-party cookies in its Chrome browser.

The decision arrives two days before the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will release its joint quarterly report on the matter with Google.

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Meta Expands VR Operating System to Third-Party Hardware Makers

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Facebook parent company Meta today announced the upcoming expansion of Meta Horizon OS, a virtual and augmented reality operating system that will be available to third-party hardware manufacturers that want to design their own headsets.

meta quest 3
Right now, Meta sells the Quest line of headsets, but the company wants to provide the software for third-party VR and AR products in the future, much like Microsoft offers Windows for all manner of third-party PCs.

Meta Horizon OS is the mixed reality operating system that Meta created for its own Quest headsets, and it has support for eye, face, hand, and body tracking along with passthrough, spatial anchors, scene understanding, and other features. There is a “social layer” that will allow the identities, avatars, and friends of users to move between virtual spaces on different devices.

According to Meta, multiple companies are working on devices that will use Meta Horizon OS. ASUS ROG is developing a performance gaming headset and Lenovo is working on mixed reality devices for productivity, learning, and entertainment. Meta says that it is also creating a limited edition version of Meta Quest in partnership with Xbox.

With the expansion of Meta Horizon OS to third-party hardware manufacturers, Meta is making it easier for any developer to ship VR software on the platform by removing barriers between the Horizon Store and App Lab.

By creating an operating system that can be used by other hardware manufacturers, Meta is inserting itself into the growing AR/VR ecosystem and creating opportunities for it to outpace Apple in mixed reality development. Apple launched the Vision Pro headset earlier this year, but software is lacking given the high price and limited distribution of the device.

According to a report from earlier today, interest in the Vision Pro is already waning at Apple’s retail locations with fewer people requesting demos.

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Amazon says a whopping 140 third-party stores in four countries use its Just Walk Out tech

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Amazon published a blog post on Wednesday providing an update about its Just Walk Out technology, which it reportedly pulled from its Fresh grocery stores earlier this month. While extolling Just Walk Out’s virtues as a sales pitch to potential retail partners, the article lists a startlingly minuscule number of (non-Amazon) stores using the tech. There are now “more than 140 third-party locations with Just Walk Out technology in the U.S., UK, Australia, and Canada.”

Mind you, that isn’t the number of companies or retail chains licensing the tech; that’s the total number of locations. Nor is that the tally in one state or even one country. In four countries combined — with a total population of about 465 million — Just Walk Out is being used in “more than 140 third-party locations.”

On average, that means there’s one third-party Just Walk Out store for every 3.3 million people in those four countries. (They must be busy!) By contrast, there are over one million retail locations in the US, and, as of 2019, Starbucks had 241 locations in New York City alone, and there are over one million

Amazon had reportedly already planned to remove Just Walk Out tech from its Fresh grocery stores for roughly a year because it was too expensive and complicated for larger retail spaces to run and maintain. The company now pitches its tech as ideal for smaller convenience stores with fewer customers and products — like its own Amazon Go stores, which it has been busy shutting down over the last couple of years.

A medical workers scans a badge at an Amazon-powered Just Walk Out kiosk in a hospital.A medical workers scans a badge at an Amazon-powered Just Walk Out kiosk in a hospital.

Amazon

The company reportedly gutted the team of developers working on Just Walk Out tech earlier this month. (You get one guess as to how the laid-off workers were instructed to leave the office.) As part of recent layoffs from Amazon’s AWS unit and Physical Stores Team, the company allegedly left only “a skeleton crew” to work on the tech moving forward. A skeleton crew to maintain a skeleton sounds about right.

In fairness, some of those locations are at high-traffic venues. That includes nine merch stores at Seattle’s Lumen Field (home to the Seahawks and Sounders), near Amazon’s headquarters. Delaware North, a large hospitality and entertainment company, has opened “more than a dozen” stores using the tech. Amazon says stores adopting Just Walk Out have reported increased transactions, sales and customer satisfaction.

Despite the reported gutting of Just Walk Out’s development team, Amazon says it “continues to invent the next generation of this technology to improve the checkout experience for large-format stores.” Its next steps include improving latency for “faster and more reliable receipts,” new algorithms to recognize customer actions and new sensors better.

If the reports about layoffs are accurate, the handful of remaining Just Walk Out developers will have their work cut out for them.

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Cisco Duo says a third-party data breach stole MFA SMS logs

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Cisco Duo has confirmed some sensitive customer data was stolen after a third-party cyber-incident.

In a breach notification letter sent to affected customers, Cisco Duo said that its telephony provider, which it didn’t name, was compromised on April 1 2024. Unidentified threat actors mounted a phishing attack against the third party, through which they stole login credentials for the company’s systems. 

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Google to Launch Android Find My Network After Apple Adds Third-Party Tracker Alerts to iPhone

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Google today began letting Android customers know that it will soon launch a promised Android-based Find My Device network, reports 9to5Google. Google announced the upcoming ‌Find My‌ feature last year, but it has not yet debuted because Apple and Google were working to develop a cross-platform solution for unwanted tracking alerts.

AirTag and iPhone Notification Feature
Code in iOS 17.5 suggests that Apple is adding support for discovering nearby third-party item trackers and alerting iPhone owners when one has been located. “You can disable this item and stop it from sharing its location with the owner. To do this, follow the instructions provided on a website by the manufacturer of this item,” reads some of the code.

With Apple likely planning to add alerts for third-party trackers in iOS 17.5, Google is clear to launch its new ‌Find My‌ Device network, which will allow Android smartphones to be used to locate lost phones, Bluetooth trackers, headphones, and other accessories.

Apple and Google first announced plans for an industry tracker specification in May 2023, with the aim of putting an end to the misuse of Bluetooth item trackers for tracking individuals. Both companies have been working to implement AirTag-style tracking alerts so people will know when a tracker of any kind is nearby.

After Apple launched the ‌Find My‌ network alongside AirTags, there were countless news stories and reports of criminals using AirTags for stalking purposes, leading Apple to make several changes to unwanted tracker alerts. iPhones were initially able to identify nearby AirTags and alert customers if they were being used for stalking purposes, but Android devices could not. Apple remedied this with a Tracker Detect app for Android, but the partnership with Google will allow for a more permanent and reliable solution that will work regardless of device.

Google says that the ‌Find My‌ Device network will let Android users find their devices even when offline, and it will work with compatible Fast Pair accessories as well as Android-based electronics. Google plans to launch the network early next week.

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iOS 17.5 Might Expand ‘Found Moving With You’ Alerts to Third-Party Item Trackers

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Apple and Google last year jointly announced a proposed industry specification to help combat the misuse of Bluetooth item trackers for unwanted tracking of individuals. As part of this initiative, Apple promised to expand AirTag-like “Found Moving With You” alerts to third-party item trackers in a future software update, which may be iOS 17.5.

AirTag and iPhone Notification Feature
MacRumors contributor Steve Moser uncovered several new references to alerts for third-party item trackers in the first beta of iOS 17.5, released this week. For example: “You can disable this item and stop it from sharing its location with the owner. To do this, follow the instructions provided on a website by the manufacturer of this item.”

Tile, Chipolo, Samsung, Eufy, and Pebblebee all expressed support for the industry specification, according to Apple’s announcement last year.

iOS 17.5 is expected to be released to the public in May.

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Fitbit watches in the EU will lose third-party apps and watch faces – here’s why

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European Fitbit owners have been dealt a huge blow as Google will be removing all third-party apps and clock faces from all devices existing in the European Economic Area. This includes the entire EU as well as non-members like Iceland.

The tech giant didn’t make any formal announcements through its usual channels. Instead, it opted to update its software management page on the Fitbit Help Center website. There, it’s stated the changes will go into effect sometime in June 2024; an exact date was not given. 

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