Google disables Hold for Me and Call Screening for some Pixel 6 phones

Google’s Pixel phones don’t always have the most cutting-edge hardware on the market but they do pack some nifty software tricks that you won’t find on any other Android device. One such nifty feature is “Hold for Me,” which is quite handy when you call a business or customer care support and they put you on hold. In these scenarios, Hold for Me can wait for you and notify you when a human is back on the line ready to talk to you. It was introduced on the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G last year and is powered by Google’s Duplex technology. But it looks the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro won’t be able to use the feature for some time.

Google announced on Wednesday that it’s temporarily disabling the Hold For Me and Call Screening features on Pixel 6 devices due to a bug in the recently released update.

“In light of a bug in the December Android update, we are disabling Hold For Me and Call Screening on Pixel 6 devices running on the Android S December QPR release,” said a Googler in a recent post.

The issue only affects devices running the Android Build number SQ1D.211205.016.A4. To identify the build number, go to Settings > About phone > Build Number and check if the build starts with SQ1D.

If you haven’t received the December 2021 security update that started rolling out last week, you should continue to have access to Hold for Me and Call Screening features. Similarly, older Pixel phones aren’t affected as well. Google says our teams are working on resolving the issue and provide an update as soon as a fix is ready.

Originally a US-exclusive feature, Hold for Me was expanded to Canada in September this year.

Do you own a Pixel 6 or Pixel 6? If so, is Hold for Me and Calling Screening are still working for you? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Google disables Hold for Me and Call Screening for some Pixel 6 phones appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/3mtK61R
via IFTTT

Android 13 may finally bring full support for Bluetooth LE Audio

From a new Material You design and a revamped notification shade to improved accessibility features and Privacy Dashboard, Android 12 packs many big changes. Besides these marquee features, the latest version of Android 12 also lays the necessary foundation for Bluetooth Low Energy Audio, a new standard for low power audio transmission over Bluetooth. While Android 12 introduces the Bluetooth LE Audio API, there’s still work to be done to enable full support for Bluetooth LE Audio. But recent commits submitted to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) suggest that full support could finally be coming in Android 13.

As spotted by Mishaal Rahman, Google has merged the commits that add an LC3 codec type (LE Audio) for Bluetooth A2DP within Developer options. LC3 (Low Complexity Communications Codec) is a new high-quality, low-power audio code in Bluetooth LE Audio that promises to deliver high-quality audio even at low data rates. As Mishaal notes, it’s unclear whether these patches are enough to enable full support for Bluetooth LE Audio, but in any case, we can expect the codec to be ready for the next major release: Android 13.

Android 13 may be the first release to add full support for Bluetooth LE Audio.

Google recently merged an LC3 (the LE Audio codec) encoder and is adding the codec as an option in settings. It’ll be the highest priority A2DP source codec.

Commits: https://t.co/tXicKLMZbq pic.twitter.com/ZHcd22grEs

— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) December 21, 2021

For starters, LE Audio is a new standard that enables audio transmission over the Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) radio. It was introduced by Bluetooth SIG at CES last year as part of the Bluetooth 5.2 specification. Before version 5.2, Bluetooth LE was strictly used for data transfer and didn’t allow audio transmission. Key features of LE Audio include lower power consumption, Multi-Stream Audio support for an improved audio experience on truly wireless earphones, the ability to broadcast one or more audio streams to an unlimited number of audio sink devices and more.

The post Android 13 may finally bring full support for Bluetooth LE Audio appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/32qMwYb
via IFTTT

You can pentest your Android apps on Windows 11 using WSA

Many would argue that the best way to perform mobile application penetration testing on Android is physically connecting a bunch of Android smartphones to a PC or Mac and debugging them. This combination does offer a plethora of control options for pentesting, and for many testing scenarios, a higher degree of swiftness you can’t get from typical Android emulators. Even if you don’t have access to multiple devices, then Android Studio’s built-in virtual device (AVD) has typically been the go-to for such testing jobs. Rooting the AVD is possible and it integrates perfectly with the debuggers, so everything works out of the box. But if you’re running Windows 11 and you want to dip your toes into the Android app pentesting, you can easily do so without relying on emulators or VMs, courtesy of Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA).

According to Michael Higgo from Orange Cyberdefense, one could potentially use WSA for Android security testing in the same manner as on a physical Android device. Higgo, who is the Lead Security Analyst at SensePost, recently published a short blog post with some general details on how to conduct Android application security testing on WSA. When it comes to assessing the security posture of an Android application, utilizing a runtime mobile exploration toolkit like Objection in conjunction with Windows Subsystem for Android makes the job quite streamlined for a security researcher.

The Android subsystem of Windows 11 is powered by the same technology that makes the second generation of Windows Subsystem for Linux a reality. Thanks to the seamless Hyper-V-assisted virtualization, WSA is significantly faster than any other Android emulator out there. Moreover, you can sideload apps on WSA, or even modify the underlying system image in order to install Play Store and other Google apps. In a nutshell, it totally makes sense to use Windows Subsystem for Android as a uniform and reproducible pentesting platform.

If you’re into traffic intercepting, then you’ll be happy to know that Higgo‘s article covers that angle as well. After installing a launcher in WSA, one can access the network settings section of the Android layer. Next, you can install a certificate authority and set up custom proxy to intercept the traffic using web vulnerability scanner tools like Burp suite.

To know more about Android security testing using WSA, take a look at the Michael Higgo‘s blog post. Whether you’re a professional security researcher or you simply want to tinker around Windows Subsystem for Android, this is a great way to explore the world of penetration testing on Android applications.

The post You can pentest your Android apps on Windows 11 using WSA appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/3Ellq1y
via IFTTT

Don’t Overlook Security When it Comes to your Email

Security might not be something that you think about too much when setting up a new email account. The average person can easily set up an account with one of the larger providers and not think twice about encryption or privacy. For anyone that’s a little more security-conscious, it’s important to know that your email provider is going to keep your online communications safe.

To have a truly secure email provider, you need something that offers reliable end-to-end encryption, user control over your data, an open-source system, and a third-party auditing system to verify all of these features. ProtonMail is a service that combines these crucial security features with an easy user interface and a variety of tools to help you better navigate your inbox. . It’s trusted by journalists and activists everywhere to exchange sensitive information, even being cited by the United Nations. With both free and paid plans, it’s easy to get set up with a ProtonMail account in a few minutes.

Sign up for a ProtonMail account here

Extensive Third-party Security Audit

Recently, ProtonMail underwent a rigorous security audit by Securitum. This audit tested all aspects of ProtonMail’s security claims to ensure that your data is being dealt with in the way that the company advertises. The report shows that ProtonMail scored extremely well with their security.

ProtonMail

“Rather than relying on secrecy to protect our code, we believe in security through transparency, which means we:

• Make all our apps open source to leverage the expertise of IT security experts and the Proton community
• Commission independent security experts to conduct regular audits of our code
• Share the audit reports with the public”
  ProtonMail

In addition to embracing audits like this, ProtonMail is also an open-source system. This level of transparency is why the service is trusted by so many security-conscious users. By having the open-source code, you can know exactly what type of tools you’re using with your email, and have peace of mind that no hidden features can be implemented to track or log your data.

Automatic Email Encryption

Your email inbox is a gateway your social media, bank accounts, cloud storage, and more. If an attacker is able to see your messages, they can potentially gain access to any online account registered with that email address. The best way to prevent this from happening is to use an email service with automatic encryption.

“An encrypted email app is one of the most powerful ways to secure your everyday data because it applies automatic encryption to every email you send and receive. It ensures that you are the only one with access to your inbox, and it lets you send emails that only you and your recipients can read.”

ProtonMail

ProtonMail Encryption

Many users might be under the impression that this is the normal way that emails are sent across any provider. The truth is that many email apps lack even the most basic security features, and leave you vulnerable to surveillance.

An encrypted email app like ProtonMail ensures that everything in your inbox can only be seen by you, and outgoing emails can only be seen by the recipient. The encryption and decryption process is handled automatically, so you can use the app just like any other. All of the security features happen silently in the background.

Try ProtonMail with a Free Account

ProtonMail has a few different subscription options, beginning with a free plan. Try ProtonMail and see how simple and effective it is as an email service. Consider getting the ProtonMail Plus plan starting at 4.00€ per month if you’re really serious about enhancing your email security. With this plan you’ll have access to the following features:

•  5 GB storage
  
•  Send up to 1000 messages per day
  
•  Labels, Custom Filters, and Folders
  
•  Send encrypted messages to external recipients
  
•  Use your own domain (ex: john@smith.com)
  
•  Up to 5 email aliases
  
•  Priority Customer Support

We thank ProtonMail for sponsoring this post. Our sponsors help us pay for the many costs associated with running XDA, including server costs, full time developers, news writers, and much more. While you might see sponsored content (which will always be labeled as such) alongside Portal content, the Portal team is in no way responsible for these posts. Sponsored content, advertising and XDA Depot are managed by a separate team entirely. XDA will never compromise its journalistic integrity by accepting money to write favorably about a company, or alter our opinions or views in any way. Our opinion cannot be bought.

The post Don’t Overlook Security When it Comes to your Email appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/3ecT67c
via IFTTT

[Update: Power restored] AWS is having another outage, causing issues with Amazon, Slack, Imgur, Epic Games Store, and more

It seems that huge portions of the internet are struggling right now, including Slack, Imgur, the Epic Games Store, and more. Huge portions of the internet are reliant on Amazon Web Services, known as AWS, and when they face issues, so does the entire internet. If you’re having problems with some of your favourite websites, you definitely aren’t alone. Other affected sites include Coinbase, Hulu, and Udemy, to name a few.

User reports recently spiked on Down Detector. At first, Amazon said on its AWS status page that it was investigating “increased EC2 launch failures and networking connectivity issues” in its USE1-AZ4 availability zone.

“We are investigating increased EC2 launch failures and networking connectivity issues for some instances in a single Availability Zone (USE1-AZ4) in the US-EAST-1 Region. Other Availability Zones within the US-EAST-1 Region are not affected by this issue.”

However, since then, the company has confirmed a power outage in the USE1-AZ4 availability zone.

“We can confirm a loss of power within a single data center within a single Availability Zone (USE1-AZ4) in the US-EAST-1 Region. This is affecting availability and connectivity to EC2 instances that are part of the affected data center within the affected Availability Zone. We are also experiencing elevated RunInstance API error rates for launches within the affected Availability Zone. Connectivity and power to other data centers within the affected Availability Zone, or other Availability Zones within the US-EAST-1 Region are not affected by this issue, but we would recommend failing away from the affected Availability Zone (USE1-AZ4) if you are able to do so. We continue to work to address the issue and restore power within the affected data center.”

Outages like this are extremely rare, and very few last more than an hour. We’ve seen some more significant outages though recently from the likes of Facebook, and even another outage from Amazon just last week. As Amazon notes, the company is currently working towards restoring power to the data center, and companies should try to fall away from the affected availability zone if possible.

---

Update: Amazon says it has now restored power to the majority of instances and networking devices

At 5:18 PST, Amazon confirmed it restored power to the majority of instances and networking devices.

“We continue to make progress in restoring power to the affected data center within the affected Availability Zone (USE1-AZ4) in the US-EAST-1 Region. We have now restored power to the majority of instances and networking devices within the affected data center and are starting to see some early signs of recovery. Customers experiencing connectivity or instance availability issues within the affected Availability Zone, should start to see some recovery as power is restored to the affected data center. RunInstances API error rates are returning to normal levels and we are working to recover affected EC2 instances and EBS volumes. While we would expect continued improvement over the coming hour, we would still recommend failing away from the Availability Zone if you are able to do so to mitigate this issue.”

---

Update 2: Amazon says power has been restored to all instances and networking devices

“We have now restored power to all instances and network devices within the affected data center and are seeing recovery for the majority of EC2 instances and EBS volumes within the affected Availability Zone. Network connectivity within the affected Availability Zone has also returned to normal levels. While all services are starting to see meaningful recovery, services which were hosting endpoints within the affected data center – such as single-AZ RDS databases, ElastiCache, etc. – would have seen impact during the event, but are starting to see recovery now. Given the level of recovery, if you have not yet failed away from the affected Availability Zone, you should be starting to see recovery at this stage.”

The post [Update: Power restored] AWS is having another outage, causing issues with Amazon, Slack, Imgur, Epic Games Store, and more appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/3yRajwr
via IFTTT

Vivaldi partners with Polestar to create first browser for Android Automotive

Android Automotive is Google’s version of Android for in-car entertainment systems, with its own Play Store and downloadable applications — as opposed to Android Auto, which simply mirrors apps and media from your phone in your car. Vivaldi is one of the most popular web browsers on desktop and mobile platforms, and now it’s coming to Android Automotive.

Vivaldi said in an announcement, “The Vivaldi web browser arrives in Polestar 2, from the pure play, premium electric car company, Polestar. It is the first browser available for Android Automotive OS. Answering one of the top desires from Polestar owners, the inclusion of a full-scale web browser in the car allows people to browse the web as they might on their mobile devices.”

The Polestar 2 was the first production car to ship with Android Automotive, and the Vivaldi port includes tabbed browsing, the ability to stream media (though video playback is hidden while driving), a built-in ad blocker, page translation, notes, tracking protection, and sync with Vivaldi on other devices. The interface looks similar to Vivaldi on tablets, at least from the screenshots provided. The main drawback is that files cannot be downloaded, but that’s probably not too important in a car.

The browser appears to be a great new feature for owners of the Polestar 2, especially given the car is attempting to compete with Tesla’s vehicles (which also have web browsers), but that’s unfortunately the only car Vivaldi is officially compatible with at this point. Vivaldi confirmed to XDA Developers that expanding support to more cars is planned, but for now, anyone with an Automotive car that isn’t a Polestar 2 is out of luck.

Google recently shipped Android Automotive 12, which includes some enhancements from Android 12, interface improvements, new APIs for apps, and the end of support for 32-bit devices. Vivaldi has also been working on updates for its browser on other platforms, such as the recent addition of side panels and multiple tab rows to Vivaldi on Android tablets.

Vivaldi: Private Browser (Free, Google Play) →

The post Vivaldi partners with Polestar to create first browser for Android Automotive appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/32jqwOX
via IFTTT

Realme GT 2 Pro design and release date officially revealed

We have learned quite a lot about the Realme GT 2 Pro over the past few weeks. We know it will be powered by Qualcomm’s latest flagship chipset Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and we also know it will pack the world’s first 150-degree ultrawide camera. And now the company has given us the first look at the phone’s design and has confirmed the launch date.

As revealed by Realme CEO Sky Li earlier today, the Realme GT 2 series will globally launch on December 4. The launch event will take place in Mainland China at 11:30 UTC.

I’ve got some exciting news. GT 2 Pro, our first-ever premium flagship phone, will be unveiled in Mainland China on Jan 4. #realmeGT2Pro pic.twitter.com/rRNieJBIE9

— Sky Li (@skyli_realme) December 22, 2021

Alongside the launch date announcement, Realme also gave us a first look at the Realme GT 2 Pro, which the company says is designed by Naoto Fukasawa, a Japanese industrial designer. Notably, Fukasawa also co-designed the Realme GT Master Edition series that came out in July this year. Realme says the phone’s design is inspired by paper and uses a new bio-based polymer material.

Here’s the first look of the #realmeGT2Pro. Inspired by paper, and co-designed by Naoto Fukusawa and realme design studio, the realme GT 2 Pro is the world’s first smartphone to feature a bio-based polymer design. pic.twitter.com/RvDI107oQL

— Koustabh Das (@Koustabhdas) December 22, 2021

As far as specifications are concerned, the Realme GT 2 Pro will be powered by the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset and feature a 150-degree ultrawide camera with a new Fish Eye mode. It will also come with a new “Antenna Array Matrix System” which incorporates ultra-wide-band antenna-switching technology (HyperSmart), a Wi-Fi Enhancer, and 360° NFC for enhanced connectivity.

Details about the Realme GT 2 Pro’s display, camera hardware, battery, charging speed, and so on aren’t known at this point. But with the official launch just a couple of weeks away, we won’t have to wait too long about Realme’s latest premium flagship.

The post Realme GT 2 Pro design and release date officially revealed appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/3qguSi2
via IFTTT