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Samsung offering up to $200,000 bounty for reporting security weaknesses

Dan Bartram
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Security is taken with the upmost importance on Android with monthly security updates to ensure consumers aren’t left vulnerable.

With Samsung as one of the biggest smartphone manufactures it inherently has one of the biggest responsibilities and influences when it comes to security. Samsung is launching a Mobile Security Rewards program that will reward those who find and highlight potential security vulnerabilities. There are a few requirements to be eligible:

  • You must have a device from this list
  • Must be on the latest software for your device
  • Can’t use a physical connection or 3rd party computer software
  • More conditions can be found here

The conditions are pretty restrictive and specific to finding vulnerabilities on the actual device in isolation rather than having to rely on external software. That will reduce the scope and potential for security holes greatly, you would think especially with the regular security updates to Android from Google.

Nevertheless, don’t let that put you off. If you fancy yourself as a bit of a security buff then what are you waiting for?

Facer’s new Watchmaker Series will make your smartwatch look like a traditional watch

Alexandra Arici
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Facer – a popular app developed by Little Labs which let smartwatch users design and install customized watch faces announced this week a major update, as well as the new “Watchmaker Series”.

After conducting a survey, Facer concluded that almost 80% of Facer users prefer traditional watches. With this in mind Facer today introduces the “Watchmaker Series” – an initiative which will allow Android Wear and Tizen intelligent timepiece owners to install digital watch faces inspired by traditional watches from top watchmakers, as well as connect with the brands and learn more about their history.

The initial list of partners includes Maurice Lacroix, Yvan Arpa, Snyper Watches, MVMT, Manufaktur Waldhoff and VAER Watches, but more will be added in the future.

Little Labs also released this week Facer 4.0 – a major update with a big focus on providing designers with better tools to create and prosper. Below you can read more about the new features Face 4.0 brings to the table:

Brand New Look

The Facer platform gets a new, cleaner look that puts watch faces and their designers at the center. User profiles have been updated to include a cover image, a featured watch face and a link to the user’s own website/social accounts.

Verified accounts

With more and more watch face designers joining Facer, it has become increasingly difficult for users to differentiate between watch faces offered by official partners and those who have been created by fans.

With the introduction Verified Accounts, Facer will use a blue checkmark badge to distinguish a watch face designed and offered by a partner from a “regular” one.

Media Carousel and Showcase View

Designers can now upload additional images to showcase their creations in every angle via photos and videos. In the case of the Watchmaker Series, you’ll be able to take a sneak peek at what the real watch looks like.

A new Showcase view feature has also been added to allow users to see watch faces in full screen. The new tool is also available for designers, so they can preview their watch faces on the screen easily before testing them out on a smartwatch.

Facer mobile app gets an update too

The companion Facer mobile app also takes advantage of the features mentioned above. Now brands will be able to better showcase their story and give users a real look at the watch faces they designed.

Wrist selfies

Watch enthusiasts love to take pictures of their wrists to showcase the beauty of the models they are wearing. Well, Facer 4.0 aims to make this easier for owners to do so with a new Wrist selfies mode. With it, users can snap a photo of the watch face they just synced to their smartwatch and immediately share them it with friends and family – straight from the app.

HTML5 widgets

Thanks to embed.ly integration, all Facer watch faces are now embeddable as HTML5 widgets. What this means for users is that they can send a watch face to their watch by virtue of a tap on the blue sync button.

As for designers, HTML5 widgets translates into the ability to easily showcase their designs on their web page and draw more attention to them.

Facer Analytics

Facer wants to help designers get a sense of how successful their creations are. So it has introduced Face Analytics – a tool which provides daily metrics including watch face, views, watch face purchases and watch face syncs.

Brand Protector

Facer has also created a new feature called Brand Protector meant to detect and flag any design potentially infringing on existing copyrights and trademarks.

Copyright and Trademark infringement is an issue Facer takes very seriously, so Little Labs wants to make sure all the designs posted on its network are unique creative efforts.

Popular Android apps for fitness

AndroidGuys
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The mantra of good health is simple: exercise regularly and eat healthy. What is hard is following it, and you surely would want all the help you can receive.

There are many android apps which help you stay committed to fitness. Of course, these apps won’t put the running shoes and start jogging for you. But other than that, they do pretty much everything: give you half marathon training programs, play pep talks, create a personal training plan, and much more.

Check our list of popular android apps for fitness. Ah, just one thing before we get on with the list. There are two parts to the equation of achieving good health: regular exercise and eating healthy.

Often, normal diet is not good enough. You need something extra. Try HGH & Peptides. Why? Peptides are digested more readily and are believed to be more stable than amino acids.

7 top Android apps for fitness

Endomondo

Among the most favorite android apps for fitness, Endomondo not only allows you to track fitness and performance, but it also allows you to record pep talks of your friends, a handy feature to lift you up whenever you feel like giving up. The app also includes many features, some of which are only available with subscription, including personal training plan, heart rate analyzer, and an ads-free experience.

Couch to 5K

Want to stop being a couch potato and wish to run 5k in near future? Well, this is the app you need. It comes with MyFitnessPal integration and a host of other features, none more useful than various training programs. You can also create workout music playlists. The app is available in both free and paid version.

FitNotes

What make FitNotes different are three things. One, it doesn’t try to take control of your life and instead lets you do what you want. Two, it is completely free. Three, there are no ads.

If you need an app which has an exercise database, allows you to keep a log of what you are doing, and helps you create custom workout routines, look no further than FitNotes.

Google Fit

This is a great app for beginners, especially if you have Android Wear. The app can be completely integrated with Android Wear and gives you statistics to compare, different goals to achieve, and different types of tracking. This app is completely free.

Jefit

Want a personal trainer? might be just the thing you need. With more than 1300 exercises and animation on how you can do them, Jefit helps you get the maximum out of your workout. The app is available in both free and paid versions.

MyfitnessPal

If you are looking for a calorie counter with data on all kinds of foods, you might want to check out MyFitnessPal. The paid version has some extra cool features.

Pocket Yoga

This useful app has more than 200 poses with animations, as well as voice instructions. If you love your yoga, download this app. You can’t go wrong in your practice if you have Pocket Yoga on your smartphone.

jetAudio HD Player : Ideal choice for Audiophiles (Review)

AndroidGuys
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Long gone are the days when people used their phones just to make and receive calls. People these days use their phones to do all kinds of things except making calls and one such thing is listening to music. It is a great way to spend your time in peace.

Unfortunately, the default music player in your phone lacks a lot of features and most of us still use it without even attempting to explore alternate options. Fortunately, the Android market is filled with hundreds of music player apps and some of them are really good with a lot of interesting features.

jetAudio HD Player is one among the plethora of music player apps in the Play Store and below is the review of it. Read on to know where it excels and how it stands out from the competition. It is a very small app sized at just 12 megabytes but it comes with plenty of useful features.

Setup

The initial setup of the jetAudio HD Player is rather simple. Just download the app from the Google Play Store and then open it. The app will now automatically scan your phone for supported media files which include mp3, wav, flac, .m4a, wma and much more. Once the scanning is completed, you can proceed to play the music of your choice.

jetAudio HD Player

There is no further setup required as the app has a pretty simple interface which is similar to most popular music player apps out there. The default screen is the Artists menu, but you can switch between other menus like Albums, songs and folders based on your preference.

Impressions

The app is the mobile version of the popular JetAudio player for PC and its design looks somewhat dated and simple just like the PC version. With a lot of app developers implementing material design to their apps, it is quite disappointing to see the app still based on the design language from the KitKat days.

jetAudio HD Player

But, since it is a music app and its primary purpose is to play songs, the design can be overlooked. However, there is one thing which is quite annoying about the app UI. Unlike the notification from most music player apps, the notification of jetAudio does not get dismissed when swiped away. Instead, you have to tap it, open the app, click on the options button and then select exit, making it a tedious and a time consuming process.

jetAudio HD Player

Other than this, the app UI is fairly basic with all the controls placed under the settings menu and the most important ones like the Equalizer and the timer, placed on the main player screen. The free version of jetAudio HD player comes with a lot of ads, some constantly staying at the bottom and some intrusive. While you are not going to spend a lot of time on the foreground of the app, the ads can get in your way when you do.

Features

The most important and the most useful feature of the jetAudio HD Player is the highly customizable 20 band equalizer. It could be a real treat for you if you own a pair of high quality headphones and are able to find the perfect preset equalizer settings. It also comes with options to tweak your sound effects based on your surroundings and also set various levels of Bass and Treble.

If you are an audiophile, then you might be able to identify the peculiar differences between multiple sound profiles and preset settings. You can tweak the effects individually or as a batch, till you get that perfect effect and then save it as a preset to easily apply it the next time. The app even warns you if you try to increase or decrease the sound effects a little too much.

But most of the time the presets present in the app is good enough and provides a perfect listening experience so, you might not even have to mess around with the settings. Apart from the 20 band equalizer, jetAudio HD Player also comes with a AM3D Audio Enhancer and Bongiovi DPS. However, they are limited to use and you have to purchase the Plus version of the music player to get your hands on these features.

My favourite feature in jetAudio HD Player is the Find on YouTube option. When you are listening to a song, you can select this option from the menu button at the top of the player, and then the app will automatically search on YouTube for the song and 90% of the time, it returned accurate results. There is also a timer which could be used to automatically stop your music from playing after a certain amount of time.

Conclusion

To sum it up, jetAudio HD Player is a fairly decent music player app in terms of design and interface but it is a whole new story when it comes to the features it has to offer. The app has predefined settings for all kinds of music and it has the potential to enhance your listening experience with effects like Bass and Treble if you use the right kind of device.

Download jetAudio HD Player From Google Play Store

Top 10 educational apps for students going back to school

Alexandra Arici
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Summer is officially over and a new school year is upon us. A lot of schools, colleges, and universities have already opened their doors welcoming students back into the fold.

But if you’re having a hard time getting into learning mood after a summer full of adventures, we suggest trying out some educational apps to remind yourself that learning can be fun too. Below you’ll find ten such examples for your pleasure. Let the learning begin!

Ready4 SAT

High school students who are getting ready for SATs can download this app and forget all about carrying around physical books and heavy study materials.

Ready4 SAT includes over more than 1,000 SAT questions and detailed answer explanations, as well as intuitive lessons which highlight important SAT concepts step-by-step. The app also includes a School Matcher tool which allows students to find schools that match their exact preferences and future goals.

Download Ready4 SAT from the Google Play Store

EdX

Maybe you decided to give the online college experience a chance this year in order to acquire a skill needed to advance your career. Then EdX might be just the kind of app you need. It’s an aggregate of college courses from universities across the world and you can find courses in diverse fields ranging from computer programming and engineering to history, nutrition and statics thought by experts at Harvard University, MIT, Microsoft and more. All of them are completely free to take but take into consideration that you won’t be able to obtain a legitimate degree after you complete these courses, you’ll just broaden up your knowledge.

Download EdX from the Google Play Store

My Study Life

While student years are often called the best years, that doesn’t mean student life is not complicated. You have to juggle a full class schedule, deadlines and sometimes even a job.

My Study Life aims to help students of any age plan their day and stay on top of their busy schedules. With a colorful and intuitive interface, My Study Life makes sure you don’t miss a deadline at school and submit each and every one of your projects on time.

Download My Study Life from the Google Play Store

StudyBlue

Flashcards are considered by many the most effective way of learners to study and retain factual knowledge. And StudyBlue lets students quickly create their own digital flash cards for free.

The app also allows you to quiz yourself, track progress and set study reminders. StudyBlue is a great tool for those who are hoping to ace their finals. Even if the school year just started, it’s never too early to start researching new, modern ways to study.

Download StudyBlue from the Google Play Store

Office Lens

This is an app developed by Microsoft which lets you take pictures of documents, whiteboards, blackboards, magazine, receipts and more and quickly converts them into editable text. Can’t keep up with your professor who fills countless whiteboards during a single class? Fire up Office Lens and take a few pictures to make sure you have secured the material. Students can save the images as PDFs, Word or PowerPoint files. It’s super handy!

Download Office Lens from the Google Play Store

Khan Academy

Didn’t understand a certain concept in class? Don’t worry. Khan Academy acts as your private tutor, as it includes over 10,000 videos and explanations in math, science, economics, history and much, much more.

Once you think you’ve mastered a certain topic, you can also dab into the database of interactive Common Core aligned practice questions to test your knowledge. The app allows you to learn at your own pace from the comfort of your own home.

Download Khan Academy from the Google Play Store

Offtime

Don’t let your Android phone or tablet distract you while you’re trying to study or learn something new. Offtime is an app that can help you limit phone usage, so you can do the things that really matter to you.

To keep distraction out, the app allows you to create profiles that block calls, texts, and notifications. Users can even restrict access to any apps (bye-bye Facebook), as well as send out custom auto-replies.

Download Offtime from the Google Play Store

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

It’s not uncommon for teachers to ask their students to write an essay about their summer during the first week of a new school year. This app comes extremely in handy when you’re writing a composition thanks to its integrated thesaurus of synonyms/antonyms and quick definitions section. Merriam-Webster can also be of use if you want to impress by using complex phrasing and words. The app features a Word of the Day section which allows users to learn new words every day.

Download Merriam-Webster Dictionary from the Google Play Store

Code Adventures

Trying to get your kids into coding from an early age? Then this app can help you do it! Code Adventures is a collection of puzzles that allow children to learn the basics of coding, as well as boost logical thinking, problem-solving, patience and persistence.

Code Adventures is not only targeted at children; it can be used by teenagers who have developed an interest in coding, as well.

Download Code Adventures from the Google Play Store

Learnist

Looking for something new to learn or to acquire more information on a certain topic which you’re tackling at school? Just browse this app’s collection of text and video content to find something new and interesting. Or use the search function to get straight to your topic of interest.

From “11 Science Experiments You Can do with Kids” to “Explore Venus: the Planet Next Door” – Learnist has it all.

Download Learnist from the Google Play Store

Huawei Band 2 Pro now available on Amazon for $69.99

Alexandra Arici
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Looking for a new fitness band? Then you might be interested to know that Huawei today announced that its Band 2 Pro activity tracker is not available for purchase via Amazon with a $69.99 price tag attached to it (and warranty).

The Huawei Band 2 Pro has been designed to support active individuals who also want to look stylish. To that end the tracker boasts a slim form factor, a long, stretched out display and is available in three color options: Black, Blue, and Red.

The wearable is said to be able to record heartbeat, pace, distance, speed and even direction. A big feature here is the VO2 Max measuring which aims to determine how fast the wearer’s body imports oxygen.

The Huawei Band 2 Pro also takes advantage of the company’s TruSleep sleep and breathing tracker which monitors light, deep and REM sleep and sleep interruptions, as well as an integrated GPS sensor and Huawei’s Running Coach software.

The wearable can be paired with a smartphone (running Android 4.4 KitKat or higher) and allows users to see their messages, incoming calls or email notifications on the elongated PMOLED black-and-white display even if they leave their handsed behind.

Huawei promises the 105 mAh battery powering the wearable can last to seven days of continues use on a single charge and up to 21 days on standby.

At only $69.99 the Huawei Band 2 Pro sounds like a very good deal. You can order one from Amazon right now.s

Nova Launcher 5.4 is now available, adds Android Oreo support, Sesame Shortcuts

Alexandra Arici
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Nova Launcher has been the go-to app for lots of Android users who got bored with their phone or tired of its increasingly slow performance.

Well, this week the popular launcher started rolling out the stable 5.4 version of the app. It’s available for download in the Google Play Store if you want, but first, maybe you’d like to read about the novelties it brings to the table.

A few months ago, Nova Launcher started testing a new feature called Sesame Shortcuts in its beta 5.4 version. Through the integration of this third-party app, users could quickly access and search in different apps (like Netflix or Spotify) , contacts, messages, Google Search and more. For example, if you typed “C” into your Nova Launcher, you could immediately find all the apps on your phone that start with C, conversation from all your messaging apps from contacts that start with C and more. Well, the feature is out of beta and available for the masses now.

Since Android O got released last month, the new version of Nota Launcher also brings support for Android 8.0 Oreo. On top of that, the update adds a new app search animation, as well as various under-the-hood performance improvements and bug fixes.

Last but not least, there’s a new feature exclusive only to Samsung Galaxy S8 users which get the ability to hide the navbar (by going to Nova Settings > Look and Feel).

You can download the Nova Launcher 5.4 version from the Google Play Store right here.

The EcoFlow River is the biggest baddest battery around and I love it

Matt Adams
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I keep waiting around for a massive jump in battery technology. One day we’ll all look back and remember that we had to charge our phones once a day and think “what the hell were we doing?” Alright, maybe it’s not as bad as I make it out to be, but I am still waiting for that next big leap in battery tech regardless. We hear stories all the time about the next big thing, but we’re still using the same battery technology we have been for a while now.

While the EcoFlow River doesn’t break the barrier between the current standard and a new one, it is a nice way to bridge the gap. The gigantic 11-pound charging station houses 11 ports and a ton (114,000mAh, 500 total watt output) of power for your devices. There are four USB type-A ports, two of which support Quick Charge 2.0, two USB type-C ports which support Quick Charge 3.0, two DC ports, two AC ports, and a 12-V car port. You can charge damn near anything with it.

A TYLT 7X (13,400mAh) next to the EcoFlow River. This thing is huge.

Normally, my mind would immediately go to using this for a camping trip. I’m the type of person who generally tolerates nature while my wife and daughter love it. I don’t want to be without my phone and my laptop so this keeps me charged up for the entire trip. In fact, EcoFlow says it’ll power a mini-fridge for upwards of 11 hours on a single charge, or you can hook up the solar charger (sold separately) and ride out the entire weekend. It’s a very expensive alternative to bringing a cooler, but hey, it is an alternative that you may want to look into.

While my mind would normally go to the campaign utilities, the recent disaster in Houston and surrounding areas has me thinking about other applications. A lot of people were trapped in their homes with no power while a hurricane tore down everything around them. Being able to keep on some lights or keep your cell phone charged can help a situation not seem so bad. I live in a valley so I’ll definitely be keeping the River upstairs in case the worst happens.

The ports on the back are perfect for camping purposes, but remember, you can only pump out 300w

I’d like to see the River’s IP rating increased in a hardware revision. It currently sits at IP63 which means it’s dustproof but its body is just splash proof, but I hope EcoFlow can do better down the line because I wouldn’t exactly feel comfortable taking this to the beach due to its somewhat weak water resistance. At $699, the River is too expensive to be destroyed because it got too much water on it.

You can charge up to 11 devices at the same time with a max draw of 500w. To recharge it, you can use wall power (6 hours), your car (9 hours) or the optional solar charger I mentioned earlier (10 – 15 hours depending on weather conditions). As someone who used to work in television, I could very easily see TV stations, production houses, and movie production crews making full use of the River to keep their gear charged on shoot days.

How many times can you (theoretically) charge your device?

Google Pixel 41
Samsung Galaxy S8 38
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus 32.5
Apple iPhone 7 58
Apple iPhone 7 Plus 39
Apple iPad Air 2 15.5
Oontz Angle 3 51
Bluetooth earbuds 134

All-in-all, I think EcoFlow has put out a really impressive battery. It’s compact and heavy, but the handle on top really makes it quite portable. You’re not going to throw this in your bag and forget it, but you can pack it for your next trip without taking up a bunch of space. The quick-charge ports are a nice attention to detail for Android device owners. Details like that often get forgotten and the max charge rate of an iPhone is all we get.

WHATEVER YOU DO, do not take off the sticker from the front if you want this thing to continue to look nice and clean

At $699, the EcoFlow River is expensive. There are others on the market that do offer DC or AC portable power stations, but their capacity is generally much much lower (as is their price). Its direct competitors, the Anker Powerhouse and Goal Zero Yeti 400 are both $100 cheaper but have smaller batteries so if you want the king of the mountain, the EcoFlow River is your huckleberry.

OnePlus 3 closed beta group now getting Android 8.0 Oreo

Alexandra Arici
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Good news for owners of the OnePlus 3 who are part of the closed beta group, as the Android 8.0 Oreo update has just started rolling out for their device. What about the OnePlus 3T and OnePlus 5 you might be wondering? They are expected to receive the latest Android update too very soon via their respective closed beta groups.

The new update for the OnePlus 3 weighs around 800MB and brings Google’s latest mobile OS version with it. However, keep in mind that the new build isn’t exactly stable – for example, NFC doesn’t work and Wi-Fi connection is spotty, while hotspot and Bluetooth are unstable.

The Chinese smartphone maker is hoping it will be able to roll out a stable build by mid-September for OnePlus 3/3T/5 users in the closed beta group, with a public beta being released by the end of September. If everything goes well, OnePlus will become one of the first OEM offering the new Android 8.0 Oreo update to its customers.

Android 8.0 is going to be the last major update for the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T, while the OnePlus 5 will live to see others.

So far other Android OEMs have pledged to update some of their models to Android 8.0 including HTC, BlackBerry, Nokia, and Huawei.

Enable Reader Mode in Chrome for Android [How-To]

Alexandra Arici
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As most of you probably know all too well, reading on a mobile device isn’t always a pleasurable experience. In cases where a web page is heavily loaded with ads, pop-ups and other additions trying to read text you came becomes quite inconvenient.

The good news is that there are solutions to this problem. For example, there are apps like Pocket or Readability which basically declutter articles for a cleaner reading experience.

However, you don’t necessarily have to download a third party app in order to do so. If you have an Android device, then you have Chrome and in Chrome, you can easily enable a Reader mode which conveniently strips away everything but for the text and images.

Here’s how you can enable Reader Mode in your Chrome for Android:

1.    Fire up Chrome for Android on your phone or tablet
2.    Type “chrome://flags” in your address/search bar and hit enter
3.    This command will open up a secret options menu packed with experimental features and options available for developers and tinkerers to play with.


4.    Find the three dot button in the top right corner tap it and look for the “Find in page” option
5.    Type “Reader”
6.    You should see the “Reader Mode triggering” which is set to “Default”
7.    Change it to “Always” and your browser will force Reader Mode on every webpage you navigate to


8.    Hit the “Relaunch Now” button which has appeared at the bottom of the page
9.    Once Reader Mode is on you’ll see a “Make page mobile-friend” button at the bottom of the pages you’re browsing.


10.    Enjoy a clean browsing experience!

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