#android

New Privacy Features Android 11

When the new Android 11 launches in May, Google will be more selective about which apps on the Play Store can see all of the other apps you have installedAs experts points out, your list of installed apps, innocent as it seems, can communicate to developers personal traits like dating preferences and political affiliations. So starting with the new launch, developers will have to provide a very good reason for why Google should let you access info like that.

Android 11 apps that currently request the “QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES” permission can see the full list of apps you have stored on your device. But Google recently updated its developer program policy and now considers that info to be “personal and sensitive user data” which apps are allowed to use it.

Once the change goes into effect in May, apps can only use the permission if their “core user facing functionality or purpose, requires broad visibility into installed apps on the user’s device.” Examples of apps that will be permitted to continue using this permission include file managers, browsers, and antivirus apps that need the data “for awareness or interoperability purposes.” Banking apps, digital wallet apps, and any other app that involves “financial transaction functionality” will get a pass “for security-based purposes”.

Apps that do not have a justifiable use case for the permission risk being removed from the Google Play Store. All developers who want to keep the permission in their apps need to complete “a declaration form” justifying their use of it.

In case you’re worried that developers could still misuse the permission, Google’s Documentation clearly states it will come down hard on offending apps, whether they’re new to the Play Store or just updates to existing apps. Google could suspend apps and possibly terminate developer accounts.

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I Wish I Had Learned To Code

Apple said that developers have generated more than $260 billion in revenue since the App Store launched in 2008, up about $60 billion from the figure it reported a year ago.

The iPhone maker made the announcement Monday as part of a summary of the performance of its digital services across 2021. The company said the App Store generated a “new yearly record for App Store developer earnings last year” and that App Store sales between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve rose in the double digits from the same period a year ago.

While those are serious numbers, relations between the tech giant and App developers aren’t all roses. Many continue to publicly bristle at the terms of their agreement, in which Apple takes 30% of all transactions. Fortnite-maker Epic Games remains locked in a legal dispute with Apple over this very issue.

Apple didn’t say how much it generated during that week in 2021 but previously said it made $1.8 billion during that period of 2020.

Apple said that it’s not possible to extrapolate the company’s cut of that revenue. The company’s App Store commissions have grown increasingly controversial and were an issue in its legal battle with Fortnite maker Epic Games. Apple charges either 15% or 30% to developers, depending on how much revenue the developer generates or if the app is a subscription used for more than a year.

Despite the developer’s unhappiness with the App Store at the current moment (the 30 percent cut Apple takes from many transactions), the newly shared figure indicates developers earned $60 billion in 2021.

The new numbers suggest that the App Store continues to be a big moneymaker, which is translated as $85.71 billion gross in 2021…Not bad!

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