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How to tell if your phone has been hacked

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EDITOR NOTE: This is a promoted post and should not be viewed as an editorial endorsement.

Nowadays, there are a few things our smartphones can’t do. They’ve gotten so powerful and integrated into our lives that it’s easy to argue that they are more important than computers.

Unsurprisingly, cybercriminals now frequently target smartphones because of all the valuable data they can contain. Meanwhile, disguised malware continues to show up in app stores despite Google and Apple trying to root it out.

The McAfee 2020 Mobile Threat Report (PDF) notes that hackers harm smartphone users in various ways, including stealing information, hiding malware, serving unwanted ads, and more. Here are the warning signs that you should be on the lookout to keep your smartphone and data safe.

Your Smartphone is Acting Strange

Over time, it’s natural for smartphones to start getting a little slow. But if your new Samsung Galaxy suddenly can’t load a YouTube video, you might have a problem. Pay attention to some of these performance issues:

  • Are web pages taking a long time to load?
  • Does your battery drain quickly?
  • Are you exceeding your cellular data limits?
  • Does your phone feel hot?
  • Are you having difficulty performing basic phone functions or changing settings?

If any of this seems familiar, you may have downloaded a malicious app or file that is harming your phone’s performance.

Unexplained Apps or Activity

With so many apps on your phone, it can be easy to lose track of them. But you know yourself. If you fear flying and suddenly have thirteen travel apps, something isn’t right.

Unexplained apps, along with other irregular activities like calls, messages, and emails you didn’t send, sign a hacker that has gotten into your phone. They may be using your device to pose as you and send malware to your friends and family.

Pop-Ups, New Browsers, Redirects

One of the most common forms of malware involves serving ads that direct users to less than reputable sites. If you’re getting a flood of ads or your browser settings have been changed to land you on pages constantly, you’re not trying to navigate to, then this is another major clue that your phone has been hacked.

What You Should Do If Your Phone Has Been Hacked

You need to act quickly. The longer a threat actor has access to your smartphone, the more damage they can do.

The first thing you should do is remove the malicious app. It’s likely the malware has been packaged into one of the latest apps you’ve downloaded. So, deleting these apps is essential. However, you might want to go a step further, and factory reset your phone. This has the best ability to remove the malware more comprehensively.

Before you do so, be sure to back up your important data so you can get access to it again later.

Likewise, similar to how you use antivirus software on your desktop computer, you should also use mobile security tools to scan and remove threats from your device.

Finally, to prevent malware attacks on your smartphone in the future, you must avoid public WiFi. Public WiFi is one of the most common places that hackers hide malware to place on unsuspecting victims’ phones. Likewise, they can also use your IP address to track your online activity.

The best advice is then always to hide your IP address. You might be thinking, how do I hide my IP address? It’s quite easy. With a VPN, you both conceal your IP and encrypt your internet connection, making you much safer against digital threats.

After you get a VPN enabled on your smartphone, you create new passwords for your online accounts. Make sure they are unique and complex to make them tough for hackers to crack. This is why you should consider using a password manager to store your passwords securely in a digital vault.

Don’t wait until your smartphone becomes infected. Pay attention to these warning signs and start arming yourself with the right security tools like VPNs, password managers, and mobile security software. There’s no better way to keep your phone safe.

Image by Stefan Coders from Pixabay

EDITOR NOTE: This is a promoted post and should not be viewed as an editorial endorsement.

8 tricks in Python used by experienced programmers

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EDITOR NOTE: This is a promoted post and should not be viewed as an editorial endorsement.

Python is a fast-growing high-level programming language that has become the most preferred language in the market. Its brevity and high readability not only makes it accessible, but it is also used in the development of iOS app development services and other custom platforms.

When you compare it to C and Java, it has fewer steps, especially when it comes to building code. It is the most common language used by companies and organizations mainly because it supports numerous programming paradigms.

Below are tricks that experienced programmers make use of to make their python code performant and concise.

List comprehensions

List comprehensions come in handy to replace for loops that appear ugly. The syntax for list comprehensions is;

[expressions for items in the list if conditional }

Not only can you be able to do a little bit of math, but you will also be able to call an external function. Additionally, you can also make use of “if statements” to filter your list.

Sorting various objects by making use of multiple keys

For example, say you have a list that you don’t want to sort by using age and name. What you want to do is to sort the list by making use of both fields. If this is the case, there is no need for you to worry. Thanks to the guarantee that Python comes with when sorting functions, getting a stable order should be easy. What this means is that all items with equal comparisons will have their original orders retained.

Always check the memory usage of all objects

Even when you are offering iOS app development services and carrying out hard code, you must know exactly your memory usage. Many experienced programmers tend to play around with sys.getsizeof (). Additionally, it would be best if you took the time to learn more about Python to have a broader perspective, especially when it comes to memory usage.

‘Attrs’ Package

Another trick used by experienced python developers is making use of ‘attrs’ instead of data classes. There are two primary reasons why you should make use of this package.

  • You will have more features;
  • You are making use of a version of Python that is much older than the 3.7 version.

The beauty of ‘attrs’ is that it can support all the various mainstreams of python versions.

Data classes

Python has been offering data classes ever since its 3.7 version came out. Experienced programmers make use of this trick because it usually comes with several advantages. They include:

  • Because data classes make use of type hints, the number of chances or experiencing bugs is often reduced;
  • There is a minimal amount of code needed for a data class;
  • Printing data classes for debugging is made easy;
  • You are in a better position to compare different data classes.

Merging of directories

If you have keys that are overlapping, what happens is that the first directory keys are going to be overwritten. In the 3.9 version of Python, merging of various directories is even made more straightforward and cleaner.

Find the value that is frequently occurring

What happens in this single code line is that all the unique values will be taken all at once.  For example, if your values are 1, 2,3 max will apply this list in the list count function. Once this is done successfully, the maximum value is going to be returned.

Returning multiple values

Inexperienced programmers may not know that Python is a programming language that returns more than one of its variables. This is achieved without necessarily making use of a list, a class, or a dictionary. However, it is crucial to note that this is okay when it comes to limited return values. If you have values beyond three, then it is advisable to make use of a data class.

Conclusion

Python is easy to learn and straightforward programming language. Using the above tricks, you will get to understand precisely how experienced programmers do it. You need to have the passion and drive to learn a new skill that will help you grow and improve your programming career.

You could also read online tutorials to have a broader perspective when it comes to Python.

Image by Johnson Martin from Pixabay

EDITOR NOTE: This is a promoted post and should not be viewed as an editorial endorsement.

iLive Bluetooth Tailgate Party Speaker review

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Speakers come in all shapes, sizes, and designs. On one end of the spectrum are small, extremely portable ones that work well for picnics and backyard playlists. On the other end are large products for more demanding situations. Take for instance, a tailgate party.

While we’re not quite able to get out and gather in large parties in summer 2020, families can still get together around a campfire or in a boat for a lazy day at the lake.

There are a number of Bluetooth speaker options designed for such a festivity. The iLive Bluetooth Tailgate Party Speaker is one of those, and we’ve recently spent some time with one. Here’s our review.

Design

My very first impression of the iLive Bluetooth Tailgate Party Speaker is that it is extremely light for the size of the box. The speaker itself measures: 9.92 x 7.44 x 22.09″. I was shocked when I picked up the sizable speaker box with little effort.

The speaker is designed to resemble the enclosures you’d see at a wedding reception in front of the DJ booth. Spicing up the party speaker is a pair of color changing LED lights that reflect off of the metallic speaker cone centers, one LED per 8” speaker.

The cabinet features false horn tweeters to complete the “professional” look; but those add aesthetics and nothing more. The speaker casing is plastic while the speaker grill is made of painted metal. The rear of the speaker features a cut-out microphone holster (microphone not included), integrated carrying handle and speaker control buttons and knobs.

A small LED display provides battery and volume level, as well as connection status. Small push buttons allow for the following combined controls

  • Source selection/LED lights on-off
  • Skip track or tune radio up
  • Play/pause, stereo pairing or Bluetooth pairing mode
  • Back track or tune radio down

There are ports for microSD card, 3.5mm aux input, USB media port, and ¼” microphone input. Charging is done through a micro-USB port.  The speaker bottom has a tripod mount in the event you feel compelled t,o in fact, use this as part of a DJ set-up. Spoiler alert, Don’t!

The speaker itself is aesthetically pleasing. It resembles professional audio gear but is where any resemblance begins and ends once you pick it up and turn it on.

Unpacking

Upon opening the box, I was surprised to find my sense of smell stimulated. The speaker wreaked of mold or mildew. Perhaps it sat in a damp warehouse at one point on its journey? Aside from that, the speaker is well packaged and secured with a combination of foam and cardboard packing material.

Also included is a double-sided instruction and specification sheet, lengthy micro-USB charging cable and a small “enter to win” registration card to activate the 90-day limited warranty. Nothing about this experience is memorable beyond the smell.

Setup & Usage

Having skipped opening the baggie containing the instruction sheet, I simply rotated the Power/Volume knob clockwise and was greeted with a rather loud and hollow voice prompt that stated, “Power on. Bluetooth.”

Connecting my phone to the iLive Bluetooth Tailgate Party Speaker was a simple affair. I opened Bluetooth settings on my phone, found the available Bluetooth device (ISB310) and connected. The voice prompt announced that it was connected and we’re ready to go.

I noted earlier in my unboxing that the box prominently advertises its bass capabilities. What better to “Bring the Bass” than with Public Enemy’s “Apocalypse 91…The Enemy Strikes Black?”

Performance

As “Lost at Birth” began playing through the speaker, I was immediately underwhelmed. How could something so large have less dynamic range than the speakers on my phone? Flat, hollow and sometimes tinny is how I would describe the frequency response.  The bass hits were muffled and strained. The sound was displeasing enough that I had to pick more suitable music to continue listening to the speaker.

Queue up Ed Shareen’s “Perfect.” The sound was more acoustically pleasing but still relatively flat. Vocals came through clearly and the speaker’s hollowness added a hint of reverb which worked well during the acoustic and instrumental portions of the song.

Overall, I rate the sound and performance of the iLive Party Tailgate speaker below average. Listening outside on my deck required me to turn the speaker to almost max volume.

The volume adjustment is not very linear as 50% volume is very low while turning the dial slightly towards max, gives much larger actual volume adjustments. Given the battery life is rated at 5-6 hours at 50% volume, I’m guessing you wouldn’t get much more than 2-3 hours if in fact you were to use this speaker in an outdoor BBQ party setting.

The LED lighting does add some “party” appeal to the speaker as it randomly fades and blinks while alternating colors. I couldn’t definitively say whether the lights adjusted to the tempo of music or if they were random. Either way, they didn’t seem to be out-of-sync.

Additional features:

FM Radio – tested briefly as I found the tuning to be cumbersome. When locked in to a radio station, it sounded passable

USB/MicroSD card input – Untested. This allows the speaker to play supported media files from a USB drive or MicroSD card directly.  However, I was not able to find any documented “supported” media types. I assume MP3, WAV, etc.

Microphone/Aux Input – Untested

Conclusion

The iLive Bluetooth Tailgate Party speaker sells for $79.99 direct from the iLive Electronics website. It was listed as unavailable at the time of this review. I was unable to find it offered at any other online or local retail location. Best Buy, for its part, lists it but does not have it in new condition at this time.

WARNING! iLive.com is not an electronics retailer and is instead an adult oriented website.

I would not personally recommend this speaker based on its price versus performance value. There are better performing speakers in terms of sound quality and volume with much better pricing.

For similar pricing, the Oontz Angle 3 Ultra features better sound and volume in a much more portable package. If you really want to host a tailgate party; I would recommend either the UE Megaboom 3 or JBL Charge 4 speakers. These units feature up to 20 hours of playtime, the ability to link over 100 similar speakers and IPX7 waterproofing.

Corning Gorilla Glass Victus aims to guard against drops and scratches

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Smartphone screens are about to get a bit more sturdy yet again, thanks to Corning‘s next generation of Gorilla Glass.

Called Gorilla Glass Victus, it promises better resistance to drops and scratches than its predecessor, Gorilla Glass 6. Indeed, it’s said to feature twice the improvement in scratch resistance than the previous generation.

As for drops, Gorilla Glass Victus is reported to handle drops from up to two meters onto hard, rough surfaces. That’s a fairly noteworthy bump over the Gorilla Glass 6’s handling of up to 1.6 meters.

When it comes to glass and display protection we’ve had to trade scratch resistance for guarding against drops. Often it’s one or the other and most recently it’s been heading in the direction of drops. Gorilla Glass Victus attempts to bring that balance back in line for users.

As much as we like our phones to handle the occasional fall or getting knocked off the table, we equally appreciate if it withstands simple scratches. And given that we’re holding onto phones longer than ever, it’s still too easy to pick up a little bit of surface scuffing over the years.

According to Wired, Corning is ready to meet the demand for its next-generation glass. However, with the pandemic still in full swing, it could be some time before we see it widely available. With that said, don’t be surprised if it’s listed among the features of your next flagship handset.

T-Mobile announces more competitive plan pricing

Josiah Ward
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T-Mobile and Sprint have been merged for around 3 months, and have launched a series of initiatives, from free robocall protection to free unlimited service for first responders.

Now, with the T-Mobile and Sprint brands officially merging on August 2nd, the Un-Carrier is offering 4 lines of unlimited data for $25 per line plus taxes and fees.

In addition, you can get four Samsung Galaxy A71 5G’s for only an additional $5 per line with an eligible trade-in.

If switching from AT&T or Verizon, T-Mobile has their Keep & Switch offer. With Keep & Switch, you can keep your phone and T-Mobile will clear any existing debts with the other carriers up to $450.

You can read more about the offer here and watch the announcement from CEO Mike Sievert below.

Qualcomm Quick Charge 5 promises full phone charging in 15 minutes

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Qualcomm on Monday announced Quick Charge 5, its latest version of its standard for charging battery-powered devices like phones. As one might expect, it takes the already-fast charging technology and dials it way up.

According to Qualcomm, Quick Charge 5 promises to charge a dead phone up to 50% in just five minutes. Moreover, a mere 15 minutes is all that’s required to hit the full 100%.

To achieve this technologically astounding feat, Qualcomm employs a 100 watt/20 volt power supply. And that’s not all; it can support higher wattages and/or voltage, too.

Understanding that typical battery cells and phone charging circuits cannot handle these levels without overheating, it utilizes “stacked cells” which more or less amounts to multiple batteries.

…optimized to take advantage of both USB-PD and Type-C technologies, addressing future Android requirements. Compatibility with industry standards like USB Type-C protocols…

Not only is this new stuff incredibly fast, it’s also more efficient, too. It folds in 12 voltage, current, and temperature protections, and runs 10 degrees Celsius cooler than Quick Charge 4.

Quick Charge 5 is backwards-compatible and works with the USB-PD standard as well as wireless charging.

Mobile devices with Quick Charge 5 are expected to ship as soon as the third quarter of the year (Q3 2020). The feature is already supported on Qualcomm Snapdragon 865, 865 Plus mobile processors.

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra specs and features leak

Josiah Ward
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When we reviewed the Samsung Galaxy Note 10+, we called it the best phone available at the time. Now almost a year has passed, so as is customary, it is time to renew the Note line.

Also as is customary, there have already been many leaks concerning the Note 20, from specs and renders to a rumored date for Samsung Unpacked 2020.

Now a more definitive leak from WinFuture has come, referring to the Note 20 Ultra as the “Xbox-Smartphone”, along with images of the device.

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra Specs

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 UltraThe Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is a true flagship, with some of the following specs:

  • 6.9-inch AMOLED display with a QHD resolution(3,200 * 1,440 resolution) and refresh rates that can scale up to 120Hz when needed with Gorilla Glass 7
  • The 108MP sensor from the Galaxy S20 Ultra combined with laser autofocus, dual-pixel autofocus, and 2 additional 12MP sensors. One sensor will be a wide-angle whereas the other will be a telephoto lens with 5x zoom
  • A 10MP selfie camera in an Infinity-O punch hole
  • A 4,500mAh battery that can charge from 0 to 5% in 30 minutes
  • The processor listed is the Exynos 990, featured in the Samsung Galaxy S20 phones, but that’s only for the European version, so the North American version’s processor is still unknown
  • 12GB of RAM with either 256 or 512GB of storage expandable by microSD
  • 5G network support

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra featuresSamsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra

Flagship specs mean nothing without great features, though. So here is some of what the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra will offer:

  • Integration with Project xCloud game streaming in addition to access to Xbox Game Pass
  • Possible Wireless Dex with ability to project to TV’s and other supported displays
  • A lower-latency S-Pen and reported “Real Feel” to make the writing experience feel more like writing on paper

Motorola Edge will launch in the US with $200 off the price tag

Rizwan Anwer
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The Motorola Edge is a phone that looks almost as good as the recently released LG Velvet but has been held out of the US market since it was announced a few months ago. The phone is now getting an official launch in the US with pre-orders starting today and the phone will be available for sale at the end of the month, on July 31st.

The Motorola Edge – coming to a store near you

The Motorola Edge is a solid budget-friendly phone that’s packed with great hardware and an even better looking exterior finish.

Specs

  • Display: 6.7-inch OLED, with Motorola’s Endless Edge display
    • 90Hz refresh rate with HDR10+
  • Platform: Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G
  • Storage: 256 GB internal, UFS 2.1
  • RAM: 6 GB
  • Main camera:
    • 64 MP Wide
    • 8 MP Telephoto
    • 16 MP Ultrawide
  • Front-facing camera: 25 MP
  • Battery: 4500 mAh
  • Connectivity: 5G, Bluetooth 5.1, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
  • Colors: Midnight Magenta and Solar Black

A rarity at this price-range, the Motorola Edge is offering up a 6.7-inch display that features a 90 Hz refresh rate and HDR10 support. The recently announced OnePlus Nord is the only phone in the price range with a high refresh display, while others like the LG Velvet lack the feature.

The triple rear-camera setup features a 48 MP main shooter which allows you to shoot in 4K resolution, but disappointingly at only 30 frames-per-second (FPS). Many devices with similar processor and camera setups allow you to shoot at a higher 60 FPS which means your video looks much smoother.

Device storage is something that is rarely an issue on Android devices, and the Motorola Edge is no different. It comes standard with 256 GB of fast UFS 2.1 storage. That means you can shoot 4K video until your heart is content. But, if you do manage to fill up all that storage, there is a micro SD card slot for additional storage.

The processor isn’t Qualcomm’s current flagship, the Snapdragon 865+, but you do get a very capable Snapdragon 765G, which includes a 5G modem. Despite not being the absolute best processor on the market, most users will be completely fine here unless they’re playing high-end games. And the inclusion of a 5G modem will make sure you’re not left behind as the new connectivity standard becomes more and more popular.

The Motorola Edge officially goes on sale on July 31, but you can pre-order it right now from B&H Photo, Amazon.com, and Motorola.com for just $499. That’s a $200 discount off of retail so make sure you act fast before this deal runs out.

How to block in-app ads on your Android phone without root or special apps

Rizwan Anwer
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With in-app ads becoming a frequent occurrence, you might find that your gaming or app experience can be a little monotonous or intrusive.

Fortunately, you can use a few simple steps to block in-app ads on your Android Phone. This trick doesn’t require any APK or app to be installed nor does it require your phone to be rooted. All you have to do is be on a device that runs Android 9 or newer.

Keep in Mind

Many developers rely on advertisements to support their development efforts. Whether it’s a small independent group of just three guys or a larger team spread out globally, the revenue generated from otherwise free games is used to pay for hosting, cloud backups, storage, graphic design, and more. In other words, removing ads or blocking them potentially inhibits developers from growth.

How to block in-app ads on your Android Phone

You can find your device’s software version by going to “About Phone” and looking at the Android Version in your phone’s settings menu. This exact process can vary from one smartphone manufacturer to the next, but you can often find it pretty easily.

Another thing to consider is that many newer phones from 2019 and 2020 already run at least Android 9 with most current flagships having Android 10.

Once you have confirmed you’re running Android 9 or higher, you need to look for the Private DNS setting. Here’s how to do so.

Open up your Setting menu, and if you have the search function embedded in there, you can use that to search for Private DNS or DNS. Otherwise, you can try looking in your networking/wireless or connection setting on your phone.

In the case of my OnePlus 7T, the setting was located in Wi-Fi & Internet. On my Pocophone F1, the setting was located in connection & sharing.

Once you find the setting, tap on it and a new box will open up, prompting you to enter a Private DNS Mode.

Choose Private DNS provider hostname and enter dns.adguard.com and tap on save.

This will now enable a system-wide setting for your DNS settings to be rerouted through adguard. While this won’t completely get rid of your ads in an app, it can reduce their frequency of occurrence.

Beware!

It’s also worth mentioning that this could also break certain apps. When tested with TurboVPN free version, the app would refuse to connect me to a server. When I turned off the Private DNS, I was able to connect to the VPN once more.

If you have gotten tired of in-app ads, this little DNS hack is very handy. It works on virtually any Android phone or tablet device, as long as it is running Android 9 or above.

Take your Linux skills to the next level with this 12-course training bundle, just $69

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Linux is by far the most popular open source operating system kernel on the planet. It’s found nearly everywhere, and is the heart of many desktops, smart devices, routers, TVs, Chromebooks, and Android phones.

How much do you know about Linux? Not just from a deep technical standpoint, but from a casual user. Do you know there are open source alternatives to many of the popular paid programs you use on your Windows or Mac computers?

Linux-based operating systems are increasingly used in commercial computing environments, and that means demand for system administrators is at a constant high. Whether it’s Google, Amazon, Facebook, or someone else, companies are paying top dollar for experts in the field of Linux.

If you’d like to get a better grasp on Linux for yourself, and maybe make a career out of it, you’ll definitely want to check out the Complete 2020 Learn Linux Bundle.

Available for only $69 right now in the AndroidGuys Deals Store, it’s a 12-course online training bundle that’s valued in the thousands.

The Complete 2020 Learn Linux Bundle is comprised of 110 hours of expert-led instruction. Broken into 12 specialized learning segments, each is designed to teach everyone, even a complete novice, with 279 helpful, step-by-step tutorials and hands-on examples.

The Complete 2020 Learn Linux Bundle:

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
  • Linux Shell Scripting: Basics
  • Linux Security Techniques
  • Linux in the Cloud
  • Linux Command Line
  • Linux for Beginners
  • CompTIA Linux+ (XK0-004)
  • Getting Started with Linux (CompTIA Micro Course)
  • Becoming a Linux System Admin
  • Becoming a Linux Server Admin
  • Becoming a Linux Power User
  • Linux Shell Scripting: Advanced

Availability

You can purchase a lifetime license to the Complete 2020 Learn Linux Bundle for just $69, but only for a limited time. At less than 50 cents per hour, it’s the sort of investment that pays off at home and potentially work.

Best Sellers

Save even more!

For every $25 you spend in the AG Deals Store you get $1 credit added to your account. And, if you refer the deal via social media or an email that results in a purchase, you’ll earn $10 credit in your account.

First Time Buying?

If this is your first time buying, you are also eligible for 10% discount! Just be sure to subscribe for email updates.

Free Stuff

Not looking to spend any money today? No worries. You can still visit the AndroidGuys section for freebies and pick something anyhow.

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