Google Maps adds smooth gesture to switch accounts, hopefully Gmail follows suit [APK Download]

Gestures are one of the smoothest interactions on a smartphone. Though often hidden and only discoverable inadvertently or by trial-and-error, they can save you time once you know how to use them. One of my favorite gestures so far has been the swipe to switch tabs in Chrome, but it may now be dethroned by a new swipe to switch accounts in Google Maps. Though I'll seldom use it in Maps, I'm really crossing fingers that it comes to Gmail soon.

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Google Maps adds smooth gesture to switch accounts, hopefully Gmail follows suit [APK Download] was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Google Assistant Will Soon Let You Assign Reminders for Friends and Family

Google Assistant is about to gain a new reminder feature that allows you to get someone else to do your bidding.


Called Assignable Reminders, the feature lets you set reminders for other people, so long as they are in your Google Contacts or opted in to your Family Group.

You can create a reminder using your voice ("Hey Google") or text, and set it to be delivered to a phone or via a smart device at a certain time, or make it geo-location aware so it shows up when the person arrives at a particular place, like the home or office.

According to Google, Assignable Reminders can be set to repeat, and you'll be able to check a history of reminders you sent to other people and any that have been assigned to you.

For children under 13 to use assignable reminders, they must be granted access to the Assistant on Google Home by adults in the household, and all users can block someone from sending them Assignable Reminders.

Assignable Reminders will roll out over the next few weeks in the U.S., the U.K., and Australia. The feature will work on Google's smart speakers, Android devices, and iPhones and iPads with the Google Assistant app installed.

Google's Assistant app is a free download for iOS, available on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Tags: Google, Google Assistant

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Nest cam status lights can no longer be turned off in the name of privacy and customers are pissed

Nest security cam owners have received an email from Google on Wednesday that left many disgruntled, to put it lightly. The company is introducing a new policy that forces Nest Cam, Dropcam, and Nest Hello status lights to remain on permanently while recording and blink when users are looking at live footage – all in the name of privacy.

Customers are in uproar against the changes. In the Google Nest community forum, multiple threads were opened that complain about the permanent lights and argue that, in fact, users' privacy is reduced by them.

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Nest cam status lights can no longer be turned off in the name of privacy and customers are pissed was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Fitbit Versa 2 leaks point to September 15 release, confirm Alexa integration and OLED display

Fitbit has been around long before smartwatches became a thing and is synonymous with fitness trackers to this day. However, the company isn't shy about its smartwatch ambitions and has already released some devices in this category, including the Ionic and the Versa. The manufacturer is building on this foundation and plans to release a new model of the latter. Renders already showed us what the Versa 2 should look like, and now, further leaks courtesy of Tizenhelp and HRDLPN have surfaced, presenting the device and its packaging in full glory.

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Fitbit Versa 2 leaks point to September 15 release, confirm Alexa integration and OLED display was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Apple WebKit Team Publishes Website Tracking Prevention Policy

Apple's WebKit team has published a "WebKit Tracking Prevention Policy" that details a range of anti-tracking measures it has developed and the types of tracking practices it believes are harmful to users.


Inspired by Mozilla's anti-tracking policy, the document posted to the WebKit blog provides an insight into the anti-tracking features built into Apple's Safari browser that the team hopes to see in all browsers one day.

This document describes the web tracking practices that WebKit believes, as a matter of policy, should be prevented by default by web browsers. These practices are harmful to users because they infringe on a user's privacy without giving users the ability to identify, understand, consent to, or control them.

Apple introduced Intelligent Tracking Prevention in iOS 11 and in Safari 11 in macOS High Sierra 10.13 and has been working to develop ITP ever since. For example, in February Apple released iOS 12.2 and Safari 12.1 for macOS, both of which included ITP 2.1 featuring enhancements that block cross-site tracking.

The new WebKit policy highlights Apple's continuing efforts to target all forms of cross-site tracking behavior, even if it's in plain view.

WebKit will do its best to prevent all covert tracking, and all cross-site tracking (even when it’s not covert). These goals apply to all types of tracking listed above, as well as tracking techniques currently unknown to us.

If a particular tracking technique cannot be completely prevented without undue user harm, WebKit will limit the capability of using the technique. For example, limiting the time window for tracking or reducing the available bits of entropy — unique data points that may be used to identify a user or a user’s behavior.

In addition to cross-site tracking, the document outlines several other tracking practices it deems harmful to users, and says WebKit will treat circumvention of its anti-tracking measures "with the same seriousness as exploitation of security vulnerabilities."

If a party attempts to circumvent our tracking prevention methods, we may add additional restrictions without prior notice. These restrictions may apply universally; to algorithmically classified targets; or to specific parties engaging in circumvention.

For more on tracking definitions, the unintended impact of anti-tracking measures, and exceptions to the rules, check out the full WebKit Tracking Prevention Policy on the WebKit blog.

Tags: Safari, privacy

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