Samsung Messages app randomly sends photos to phone contact list

Samsung Galaxy owners have complained about unauthorized texts and photos being sent out at random from their smartphones through Samsung’s Messages app.

Users’ complaints on the official Samsung forums and Reddit indicated that their Samsung devices including the more recent models Galaxy Note 8 and Galaxy S9 have been texting contacts at random without any notification. These text messages also included photos stored in their respective devices, reports Gizmodo.

Furthermore, the messages do not leave any trace that they were sent, leaving phone owners clueless on what just went out of their devices.

Users theorize the issue has something to do with the recent Rich Communication Services (RCS) update, which rolled out on American mobile carriers like T-Mobile. RCS was meant to update the old short messaging system (SMS) protocol with new features. These features include improved media sharing, read receipts and typing indicators. Unfortunately, these updates may have interacted badly with Samsung’s Messages app, according to the report.

Observations from some users showed the issue did not happen on other messaging apps.

Samsung acknowledged an inquiry from Gizmodo that it was aware of the bug and that it is currently working on a fix. T-Mobile, on the other hand, insisted it was not an issue from their end.

For now, Samsung smartphone users are advised to revoke storage access permission from Messages through the device’s app settings until the bug can be patched up.   Alfred Bayle /ra

source: technology.inquirer.net

Allo there! New messaging app ‘will do everything’ for you

“Allo” is the French word for “hello” and it seems to be a fitting name for Google’s new messaging app, which is set to rival existing messaging apps out there.

Google already has a chat app called Hangouts and many people are still using it because of its video calling feature. It came as a surprise when the tech company announced that it is coming up with a new messaging app.

Google is marketing it as a “smart messaging app” because it uses the full potential of machine learning, which simply means predicting your next message by studying your past conversations using artificial intelligence. It “remembers” the pattern of previous messages and from there, it will provide suggestions as you try to chat with someone.

This idea prompted American whistle-blower and former National Security Agency insider Edward Snowden to tweet a warning not to download or use it because Google “retains your data by default” a day before the official launch. But Google never claimed otherwise. It’s out there and many people understand that to predict your next message, software needs to understand your behavior through previous messages.

Google Assistant 

Google CEO Sundar Pichai has been raving about Google Assistant since months ago and his dream of an Assistant for every Android user is coming true.  

This is probably Allo’s advantage over other messaging apps such as Messenger, What’s App or Viber. Think of iOS’ Siri and you have Google Assistant, a bot that answers your queries. It is an upgrade of “OK Google” where you can ask directions or even translations if you are in a different country and having language barrier.

To “chat” with Google Assistant just type @google when sending messages.

Smart Reply

This feature can be a bit “creepy” because you can “respond without typing.” By just a single tap, it will suggest certain responses or emojis based on your personality or messaging history. Again, machine learning and artificial intelligence will “judge you” based on the words you often use or what emotions do you often express.

Allo doesn’t want you to go anywhere but within the app so it will let you doodle with photos within the conversation. You can write notes on the photo or create your own memes without leaving the app.

Stickers

And then, there are the stickers. This generation has learned to communicate and express their feelings with stickers and emojis. The use of words is becoming less and less of a need because “millennial speak” means using stickers and emojis and abbreviations: TL;DR (too long; didn’t read), anyone?

Allo offers cool stickers that could keep any conversation going.

Google said, “Stickers in Google Allo are designed by independent artists and studios from around the world. From Drama Llama to Food Party, add some fun to the conversation when words aren’t enough.”

Incognito

There’s a semblance with another messaging app Snapchat because aside from sending encrypted messages or those that may need some sort of a password, Allo also “comes with expiring chats so you can control how long your messages stick around and private notifications to help keep your chats more discreet.”

Basically, Google Allo is a hodgepodge of other messaging apps available—only better.

Pichai said in an interview a few months ago that it doesn’t matter whether a new product or service looks like a “me too,” but you can judge it through the “execution.”

News said Google Allo has already reached 5 million downloads in just a week. It looks like the tech giant’s huge investment and innovation on machine learning and artificial intelligence is paying off.

Google Allo is available on Android and iOS.

source: technology.inquirer.net

WhatsApp is going to share your phone number with Facebook

SAN FRANCISCO — Global messaging service WhatsApp says it will start sharing the phone numbers of its users with Facebook, its parent company. That means WhatsApp users could soon start seeing more targeted ads on Facebook — although not on the messaging service itself.

The move is a subtle but significant shift for WhatsApp, which has long promised to safeguard the privacy of more than 1 billion users around the world. WhatsApp is giving users a limited time to opt out of sharing their information with Facebook, although they must take the extra step of unchecking a box to do so. It also says Facebook won’t post phone numbers online or give them out to anyone.

But the giant social network has been looking for ways to make money from WhatsApp since it bought the service two years ago, in an eye-popping deal ultimately worth $21.8 billion. At the same time, Facebook has pledged not to interfere with a longstanding promise by WhatsApp’s co-founders to respect users’ privacy and keep ads off its messaging platform.

WhatsApp on Thursday offered a glimpse of its plans for turning on the money spigot, releasing new documents that describe the company’s privacy policy and the terms of service that users must agree to follow. The documents are the first revision of those policies since 2012, before Facebook acquired WhatsApp.

One change follows through on previous hints by WhatsApp executives, who have said they’re exploring ways for businesses to communicate with customers on WhatsApp. That could include using WhatsApp to provide receipts, confirm a reservation or update the status of a delivery.

Companies could also send marketing offers or messages about sales to individual customers, according to the new documents, which note that users will be able to control or block such messages. WhatsApp says it will continue to bar traditional display ads from its service.

“We do not want you to have a spammy experience,” the company tells users in a summary of the new policies.

Another change is potentially more controversial: WhatsApp says it will begin “coordinating” accounts with Facebook by sharing WhatsApp users’ mobile phone numbers and device information, such as the type of operating system and other smartphone characteristics. The company says Facebook will employ the phone number internally to better identify WhatsApp users on Facebook, so it can recommend friends or show targeted advertising.

The ads would come through a Facebook program called “Custom Audiences,” which lets a business upload lists of customers and phone numbers or other contact information the business has collected from warranty cards or other sources. Facebook matches the list to users with the same information and shows them ads. Facebook says it doesn’t give out users’ information to advertisers.

WhatsApp phone numbers are valuable to Facebook. While the social network already has many phone numbers, it doesn’t require users to provide them, and doesn’t always have the most current number for everyone on Facebook. But anyone on WhatsApp must provide a current phone number because that’s how WhatsApp knows where to deliver messages.

The coordination of accounts may draw fire from privacy advocates. WhatsApp has long promised not to employ user data for advertising. Its acquisition by Facebook two years ago sparked complaints from activists who worried the new owner would start mining WhatsApp accounts. Though both companies pledged WhatsApp would operate separately from its parent, the Federal Trade Commission warned them publicly, in a 2014 letter, against changing how they employ WhatsApp user data without users’ consent.

WhatsApp says current users have up to 30 days to accept the new policy terms or stop using the service. Once they accept, they have 30 more days to opt out of sharing with Facebook.

Privacy groups have praised WhatsApp for building powerful encryption into its services, making it impossible for the company or anyone else to read users’ messages. WhatsApp promises that encryption will remain, so neither WhatsApp nor Facebook would be able to use message content for advertising purposes. TVJ

source: technology.inquirer.net

New mobile app lets you take back text messages

 

Just sent someone a nasty or inappropriate text message and want to take it back? Now, there's an app for that.

 

Introducing Strings, a messaging app that allows you to take back your messages by controlling "if and when content is deleted, immediately and permanently."

 

Strings can also allow a user to control if other users download photos and videos or share them with others.

 

The catch, however, is that the app is available only for iOS, at least for now.

Click here to see the app on the Apple iTunes store.
 

Another catch? Your recipients must have the app installed on their phones, too, so you can't use it if your friend's phone runs on Android or Windows Phone.

 

10 Commandments of Sharing (on Strings)

 

Strings also gives users a list of so-called "Ten Commandments of Sharing":

 

1. You need a smartphone and phone number to use Strings. No number, no use.
2. Your profile is not public. Only people who you add to your contact list can share with you.
3. The only people who can view your content are the ones you share it with. Add people and remove people anytime.
4. No one can download or share your content without your approval. Period.
5. If anyone takes screenshots of your content, Strings will detect it and their account will be suspended.
6. If you remove yourself from a conversation, anything you said will be removed with you.
7. If you delete a photo, video or chat that you created, it will be deleted on every participant’s device.
8. If you delete your account, your photos, videos and comments are deleted forever, on all phones and servers.
9. What you share will never be analyzed, mined, sold, filed, or otherwise used at your expense.
10. Strings is free to use and free of advertising.

  — Joel Locsin/TJD, GMA News

   

source: gmanetwork.com