Testing our own app with Google’s ‘ARC Welder’ tool

Last year Google slowly began bringing select Android apps to the Chrome Web Store, allowing a batch of useful mobile apps to run on Chromebooks and other Chrome devices.

Android applications run on Chrome OS through a native client extension called “App Runtime for Chrome”, more commonly known as ‘ARC’, which runs Android codes at near-native speed through a sandboxed Dalvik VM.

In the months following the announcement of ARC over thirty Android apps have been added to the Web Store, including productivity powerhouse Evernote, PDF mark-up tool iAnnotate and social media fave Vine.

Some Chrome users have grown a little impatient at the slow rate of porting more desirable apps over (think Flipboard, VLC, Skype, etc) despite many lesser known utilities and educational tools wrangling their into the Web Store.

Today that changes.

ARC Opens To All

At its press event Google confirmed it plans to open the ARC programme to all Android developers, not just a select few. This means developers themselves can now dive in to test their Android app in Chrome against the ARC plugin to see what works and make changes, like adding support for keyboard tab keys and mouse input, as needed.

Finally, if all works as intended, they are free to promptly publish it to the Chrome Web Store for users to enjoy.

And there’s you thinking it was all new convertible Chromebooks and low-cost Chromebits announced!

In unlocking the flood gates for Android app developers to bring their wares to Chrome OS Google risks seeing developers shun native Chrome Apps (written in web technologies, running offline, leveraging system hardware APIs, etc) in favour of lazy ports.

Similarly, with a big focus due on Service Workers, its plan to app-ify websites with offline and push messaging features, the need for a bona-fide ‘Web App’ is also lessened.

But whatever mess it makes for a consistent developer story it does, for now, mean more apps for users, more opportunities for developers, and more momentum for the Chrome project.

How To Test Android Apps for Chrome Using ARC Welder

The official Chrome developer documentation details the full recommended way for Android devs to get started with ARC.

In short, developers need three things:

• An APK of the application they wish to test
• A PC, Mac or Chromebook running Chrome v40 or later
• The ARC Welder app from the Chrome Web Store

Installing the ARC Welder app from the Web Store also downloads ARC plugin itself (even on Windows, Mac or Linux). Since the plugin is more than 100MB in size eager mobile devs should only install it when not on a metered, cellular or slow connection.

Once up and running the ARC Welder app simplifies the entire process;

• Open ARC Welder
• Add .apk
• Set configuration values (layout, orientation, etc)
• Test

Google say developers should strive to ensure that an app works well for touch and non-touch Chromebooks, should ideally test on the Chrome OS Stable Channel and cautions that the plugin does not yet support all of Google Play Services yet.

ARC Welder allows .apk files to be quickly exported into a .zip file for easy submission to the Chrome Web Store.

Google Keep is a great app with cross-platform sync, apps for Android, Chrome and the web and neat collaborative features. But are you getting the most from it?

Whether you use it to manage your weekly shop or to brainstorm your next big project, here are five powerful Google Keep tips that you should definitely make use of.

Transcribe Text from Images in Google Keep

Google Keep can transcribe text from images, a feature a lot of people don’t know about. It’s available everywhere Keep runs, including on Android and in the Chrome App.

Take advantage of character recognition to save time manually copying and typing information. For example, snap a photo of a business card or book page, add it to Keep, and have the text automatically pasted into the note ready for you to copy, edit and use elsewhere.

Using the feature does require a working internet connection and a photo, screenshot or other image that contains text:

• Create a new image note in Google Keep
• After the image has finished uploading open the note
• Click the overflow menu button
• Select “Grab Image Text”

The accuracy of the text transcription can vary depending on the quality of the image being read from and the words within it (Google applies autocorrect, adds spaces, etc.).

Brightly lit, crisp images with good contrast give best results, while busy, dark or blurred images regularly result in weird translations.

Set Reminders & See Them in Google Now

A popular features of other to-do tools, like Wunderlist and Todoist is the ability to schedule tasks for a future date and receive a notification when due.

Keep offers this too. Every note you make can have a due date or deadline attached. Click the ‘finger with a bow’ icon note to access the date and time picker and click ‘Done’ when done.

Reminders of due notes are delivered as push notification on Android, cards in Google Now and alert toasts in the Chrome Notification Center on Windows, Mac, Linux and Chrome OS.

Smart Filtering & Sorting Options

Keep’s colour options are not just there to make your notes look pretty but to help you organise tasks, thoughts and to-dos; e.g., red for shopping, yellow for random thoughts, or whatever else you may prefer.

All note types can be assigned a colour, including image and voice notes. Use the ‘Search Google Keep’ filters to view cards by colours and/or type, e.g., ‘Red notes with images’, ‘Yellow notes with checkboxes’, and so on.

Create Voice Memos

Android users can create voice memos in Google Keep. But more than simply syncing your voice clip across the desktop and web-apps, Keep will also transcribes your spoken words into editable text.

To create a voice memo in Keep on Android.

• Open Keep
• Click the ‘Microphone icon’ under the new note field
• Chat away

Recover Deleted Notes (And Learn to Archive)

If you accidentally delete a Google Keep note you can recover it — but only if you do so within 7 days!

To restore deleted notes open the keep sidebar, select the “Trash” item, and click “Restore” in the dropdown menu that opens up under ‘More Options’.

To save losing something precious by accident it helps to get into the habit of using the ‘Archive’ rather ‘Delete’ option. This makes your old notes accessible for future reference (using the Archive view in the sidebar) but keeps them hidden from the main view.

If I told that you that a bunch of hackers had found a zero-day vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 8.1 you would probably be concerned.

Especially if details of the unpatched security bug had not only been made public, but actual working exploit code had also been released on the internet for anyone else to use.

So, how would you feel if I told you that the hackers work for Google?

In its questionable wisdom, Google’s Project Zero group has gone public with details and proof-of-concept exploit code after one of its researchers found a security hole in Windows 8.1 that can allow lower-level users to become administrators.  Once an unauthorised user has admin privileges, of course, they can cause all kinds of trouble.

Was Google right to release the proof of concept code?  I don’t think so.

In July last year, when Google’s Project Zero was announced, I praised the company for what appeared to be a responsible stance regarding vulnerability disclosure:

I am encouraged by Google’s approach to disclosing the vulnerabilities. Itsays that it will responsibly report security bugs to the software vendor, not to third parties, and – once a patch is available – will provide a way for internet users to monitor how long it took a particular vendor to fix an issue, and other information.

To my mind that’s a better approach than that taken by some security researchers (including some, sadly, who work for Google) who have in the past publicized security holes before a patch which would protect users is available, giving malicious hackers an opportunity to exploit the vulnerability and cause damage.

If they had waited until Microsoft had released a patch for the problem, then it could be argued that it’s acceptable for the Google Project Zero team to release details of the vulnerability.  But Google knew that Microsoft hadn’t yet released a patch (heck, you can’t blame them for not rushing after the buggy security patches that have come out of Redmond recently), and yet it felt it was reasonable to release proof-of-concept which malicious hackers could use as a basis for their own attacks.

Fortunately, Microsoft has pointed out that the security flaw uncovered by Google’s researchers isn’t of the highest severity.  To exploit the bug, an attacker would “need to have valid logon credentials and be able to log on locally to a targeted machine.”

But it’s still easy to imagine a disaffected employee using the bug to cause mayhem if they so wished.

In its defence, Google says that it reported the bug to Microsoft on September 30th, and that its 90-day disclosure deadline has now passed.

To which I say, so what?  That’s no reason to publish exploit code for any Tom, Dick or Harry to pick up and run with.

If you want to apply pressure on a software vendor who you believe is taking too long to fix a security flaw, don’t release blueprints of how to exploit the vulnerability onto the internet.  Instead, go to any technical journalist who works on the security beat.  They’ll be happy to have the flaw demonstrated to them, and then responsibly report that the bug still hasn’t been fixed.

There’s a right way and a wrong way to raise awareness of zero-day security holes that haven’t been patched yet.  Google – the company which famously has the policy of “Don’t be evil” – is going about it the wrong way, and potentially putting many of us at risk.

Google Play, Google’s marketplace for Android applications which now reaches a billion people in over 190 countries, has historically differentiated itself from rival Apple by allowing developers to immediately publish their mobile applications without a lengthy review process. However, Google has today disclosed that, beginning a couple of months ago, it began having an internal team of reviewers analyze apps for policy violations prior to publication. And going forward, human reviewers will continue to go hands-on with apps before they go live on Google Play.

Additionally, Google announced the rollout of a new age-based ratings system for games and apps on Google Play, which will utilize the scales provided by a given region’s official ratings authority, like the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) here in the U.S.

According to Purnima Kochikar, Director of Business Development for Google Play, Google has been working to implement the new app review system for over half a year. The idea, she says, was to figure out a way to catch policy offenders earlier in the process, without adding friction and delays to the app publishing process. To that end, Google has been successful, it seems – the new system actually went live a couple of months ago, and there have been no complaints. Today, Android apps are approved in hours, not days, despite the addition of human reviewers.

“We started reviewing all apps and games before they’re published – it’s rolled out 100%,” says Kochikcar. “And developers haven’t noticed the change.”

The reason why Google’s app review team is able to process app submissions so quickly is because the system also includes an automated element. Before app reviewers are presented with the applications, Google uses software to pre-analyze the app for things like viruses and malware as well as other content violations. For example, its image analysis systems are capable of automatically detecting apps that include sexual content, as well as those that infringe on other applications’ copyright.

Google didn’t want to get into the specifics of what it’s capable of in terms of automation, but notes that it can identify a number of violations beyond just the inclusion of malware.

“We’re constantly trying to figure out how machines can learn more,” explains Kochikar. “So whatever the machines can catch today, the machines do. And whatever we need humans to weigh in on, humans do.”

Though Google uses more machine-aided processes in reviewing applications than Apple does currently, Kochikar admits that with regard to its human element, Google’s system may not be “as robust” as those from “rivals.” That is, Google is trying to balance being able to catch the violations earlier without impacting the time it takes to get an app published to its Android app marketplace.

The new system also means that developers will now be able to see their app’s publication status in more detail, and learn quickly if and why an app has been rejected or suspended, says Google. In the Developer Console, app creators will see their app’s latest publishing status, allowing them to easily fix problems and resubmit apps after correcting minor violations.

New Age-Based Ratings

In addition, Google also announced another far-reaching change which will affect all Google Play developers worldwide: the addition of an age-based ratings system for apps and games. Starting in May, developers will have to complete a content questionnaire about their app ahead of submission, which has been designed to help identify objectionable content and return the most appropriate rating.

Because rating systems vary by region, Google has worked on this implementation with the help of the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC) and its participating bodies, including the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), Pan-European Game Information (PEGI), Australian Classification Board, Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (USK) and Classificação Indicativa (ClassInd). Those regions that don’t have a specific ratings authority in place will include a more generic rating, notes Google.

That means that, in the U.S., Google Play games will feature the same ratings as you’d otherwise find on boxed software, like “Everyone (E),” “Teen (T),” “Mature (M),” etc. Other countries’ ratings will reflect those used by their own local organizations or regulatory bodies. And Google Play’s parental controls feature will be updated to allow blocking of these new rating categories.

Before today, app ratings on Google were somewhat problematic because developers were able to assign them by themselves. With the new age-based ratings, however, developers can’t override the rating without going back and taking the questionnaire again and editing their answers. Plus, Google says that it will review the ratings being produced by the new process, too, to make sure developers aren’t trying to lie on the questionnaire in order to adjust their app or game’s rating.

Initially, there will be a grace period while the new system is rolled out, but by the end of next month, it will become a blocking requirement for new app submissions and updates. Those apps that remain “unrated” may then be blocked in certain territories or for specific users, notes Google.

Ready for a piece of news that will shock you? Video viewing platform YouTube is actually losing Google money. In a report that has stunned many people in the online world, Google has announced that its major subsidiary video-streaming website,YouTube, is (at best) breaking even as an investment. The website, which serviced 1 billion viewers and brought in almost $3.8 billion last year, has reported almost no profit whatsoever since Google purchased it 9 years ago.

This is such shocking news due to the sheer volume of traffic that flows through the website on an annual basis. YouTube alone accounts for more video traffic than allsocial media and video websites produced and covered by AOL and Yahoo combined, and nearly doubles videos linked in social media giant Facebook. Despite these staggering numbers, a combination of the “junk” on YouTube and its incredibly complex infrastructure mean the company is becoming more and more of a liability to Google.

This is backed up by the fact that YouTube viewer numbers have been steadily decreasing for over a year and show no signs of stopping. These losses are quickly being picked up by social media outlets such as Facebook and Yahoo as Google struggles to turn the tide and create a profitable organization of the video-carrying organization. The reason for the losses has been attributed to Google’s policy of paid advertisements as a means of making up income for providing a free video-mounting platform and maintaining a community.

When considered more closely, however, it is clear to see why other video-mounting platforms are showing more success from a financial perspective. Vimeo, for example, is one of YouTube’s largest competitors and its success is ironic due to the similarities and differences of these two services. For example, YouTube, an ostensibly free site with web advertising and variable video quality, is suffering a slow and painful death while Vimeo, a paid service with relatively high video quality without paid advertising is gradually growing and creating a profit. It is also showing a much higher percentage of business-owner based traffic, compared to YouTube which features a younger, less financially stable audience.

Google is expected to go in a new direction with YouTube. It is believed that they willsoon be moving towards a more TV-oriented market (think Netflix) in an attempt to build greater revenues and profits from their video-mounting foster child. Google is reeling from a series of financial and political setbacks, and it is only a matter of time before these repetitive blows start showing serious damage on the search giant. Until then, users will be forced to accept the ongoing buildup of paid advertisements and surveys that have become the ire of the online community.

Mozilla’s decision to drop Google as the default search provider in Firefox last December appears to have had more of an impact than either company could have imagined. As a result, the search giant’s share of the US search market dropped to its lowest level since 2008 but it seems as though Google may get the last laugh after all.

Call it being extremely competitive or outright vindictive, but Google recently modified its search results page to promote its Chrome web browser. Such actions wouldn’t typically be newsworthy but with the move, Google is going directly after Mozilla.

When a Firefox user performs a Google search, they’ll see a huge notice above the results asking if they want to switch their default search engine to Google. There’s a blue box beneath that provides more information on how to go about the switch alongside a grey box to decline the offer.

Out of curiosity, I tried a Google search using Internet Explorer but came up empty-handed. I did, however, see a smaller notice on Google’s initial page but nothing even close to the in-your-face plea that Firefox users will see.

As previously mentioned, Mozilla announced plans to drop Google as its default search provider in Firefox late last year in favor of Yahoo. The change took placeon December 1 with the launch of Firefox 34, kicking off a new five-year strategic partnership with Yahoo.

Google's Play Store has been a ragtag crew of apps in terms of submission and posting criteria, and the subsequent ratings and quality of applications. This fact will be no more, it seems, as the company just announced it will be introducing an age-rating system, manual app review, and other undertakings aimed to increase the quality of apps in the Play Store.

Developers will still be able to get submission requests approved or rejected "in a matter of hours," but the apps will be scrutinized much earlier in the process for eventual policy and standards violations. As for the ratings system, it will be automatic, but devs will be able to fill a questionnaire for a more targeted approach to determining whether their app is suitable for kids or for adults. These are the rating systems that Google will follow:

Google Play’s new rating system includes official ratings from the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC) and its participating bodies, including the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), Pan-European Game Information (PEGI), Australian Classification Board, Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (USK) and Classificação Indicativa (ClassInd). Territories not covered by a specific ratings authority will display an age-based, generic rating. The process is quick, automated and free to developers.

One way of settling the iOS vs Android vs Windows Phone debate would be to have Siri, Google Now and Cortana fight it out in some sort of cage match. That's unlikely to ever happen, but if it did then two of them would have reason to be concerned, as Google's contender is about to get a substantial update.

Google Now's Director of Product Management Aparna Chennapragada has said APIs will shortly be available to let any app show cards inside the Google Now interface. Android will decide what to show based on the apps you make the most use of.

A select number of third-party apps can already access Google Now, including Airbnb and Lyft, so Google is obviously happy enough with the way this trial run has gone to offer access to all Android developers in the near future.

Park and ride

Chennapragada, speaking at the SXSW festival in Texas, added as an aside that support for theme park ride queues was also on the way - so Google Now can tell you when there's no waiting time at Oblivion.

The exec went on to say that the Google Now team was working on ways of personalising its data more effectively - some people like to arrive at the airport earlier than others, for example.

We should hear lots more at the Google I/O developer conference at the end of May. No doubt Siri and Cortana will be watching closely.

Via The Next Web

Apple wasn't the only company to release a laptop without enough holes on it this week, Google did one too.

Its updated Chromebook Pixel is another divisive lump of hardware, winning some fans for its design and lofty (for a mid-range laptop) Intel spec, but also triggering waves of hatred among people who don't consider anything other than a custom build of Linux to be a proper OS

Google says it's aiming the new Pixel at developers, a fact some think is just an excuse to hide the fact that no one outside of the Google clique cares about Chromebooks.

Because they're not proper computers. Or are they? All we use any computer for nowadays is looking at the internet, so what's wrong with an OS that's just a posh browser? Lots of things, says the commenters of the internet, who would seemingly rather use Windows Vista for eternity than lower themselves to Chrome OS.

Nine gigs, 128 bits, loads of pieces

On Yahoo, conversation turned to people boasting about how much their alternative "rigs" cost and then how much people hate Google in general.

Reader John cut to the chase with his paranoid Pixel review: "In short, it's the perfect spyware machine. Everything we do, we do it for you? And with the Chrome Remote Desktop the spying does not stop with your online content, but moves on to your 'private' computer as well. Isn't it great?"

Reading between the lines, we think John's got some special bookmarks he doesn't want out in the public domain.

Commenter David B thinks the pixel is way over-specced for the job of browsing the Daily Mail web site's selection of adverts and occasionally tabbing to Facebook all day, asking: "What exactly do you need a fast processor for if it can't run any software? Nobody needs an i7 processor to use Chrome."

C Menstein was even more dismissive in the snooty way people usually are when discussing Chrome OS, saying: "Just buy a real computer."

Although in dissing Chrome you're sort of accidentally saying Windows is the best, which isn't a particularly cool thing to do on the internet, not even when signed in under a disposable anonymous alias.

Your mum

Answering the question "who is it for?" asked by The Verge, reader Ceejw explained: "Seems like it's for Google Employees and Chrome OS developers (Also Google I/O attendees). Google just sells it to the public to make back some of the R&D costs."

Which is literally exactly who Google said it was for, so you're quite right.

Brandon Whumpries, or perhaps that's meant to be Brandon W Humphries, enjoys the fact that Chrome is locked down and therefore also aimed at the common, command-line-fearing man, as he can use it to control the lives of those less capable than himself.

He told the audience: "I like that it is limiting. Makes it secure and idiot proof for my family and other tech-phobic people. It's really not for anyone who is knowledgeable enough to install a linux distro. It's for the people who use windows because they don't know any better, its was just there, and wind up being confused by it/screwing it up."

Let's hope his wife and kids never find the comment in which he said "idiot proof for my family."

Lilmoe suggests giving Chrome OS the time of day is being unfair on Windows and specifically Windows RT, the tablet OS that got a right kicking, asking: "Why is Chrome OS getting a pass when it's relatively FAR less capable? Why were Windows RT devices criticized and Chromebooks praised?"

Dunno. Steve Ballmer?

Chrome effect

The Guardian also went for the "still just Chrome" angle in its headline, and readers tended to agree.

Alejandro Ballesteros recoiled at the thought of blowing that much money on something he can't tinker with all weekend for something to do, saying: "I thought the best thing about Chromebooks was price, as someone may have mentioned already, I'd rather (as I did) spend £700 on an ultrabook and install Ubuntu."

Reader BBPO8 thinks that's stupid and exactly the opposite of what you should do, though, as you buy ultrabooks for yourself and Chromebooks are for your mum and the rest of your idiot family, explaining: "Most reviewers miss the point of the Pixel, and Chromebooks in general. For 90% of what computer users do, they are ideal. You don't waste your time on updates or fending off malware and viruses. It boots up in under 10 seconds. To coin a phrase, 'It just works'."

Reader Max Watson, meanwhile, made a mess of standing up for the device, commenting: "I have a Pixel and it's the best computer, and personal computer experience, I've ever owned. And no, I'm not a Google employee. Nor am I a developer (I run a software business)."

Not a developer, just the owner of a software business. Entirely different things.

Ever since the Google Nexus 5's availability began wavering late last year, we've been expecting to see it dropped entirely, and now that day has finally come.

Just like Google promised, the former flagship remained on sale for most of 2015's first quarter, but now it's MIA in Google's Play store and Google's brand new non-Play store.

"The Nexus 5 is no longer available for purchase," the phone's page now reads.

And it's not the only Google product that's disappeared; the first Chromebook Pixel, a high-end Chrome OS laptop, is also gone, as Ubergizmo points out.

It seems Google was in the mood for some spring cleaning this week, which could have something to do with the introduction today of a new Chromebook Pixel with a USB Type-C connector.

And there's always the Nexus 6, a bigger and better Google flagship that will surely remain on top - until the next thing comes along, at least.

A report earlier this year suggested Google is preparing to launch its own mobile phone service codenamed Project Nova.

Everything moved pretty fast from there and Google then confirmed the project at an MWC press conference earlier this week.

Now a report in The Wall Street Journal has suggested once the service launches it will only by available on the Nexus 6.

It seems a weird idea to restrict an entire phone network to one device, but it will be a soft launch for the company and it is going to need some tight control of both hardware and software.

Supernova network

Project Nova will use different mobile phone networks alongside Wi-Fi signals to offer the best service.

T-Mobile and Sprint's networks will be powering the network in the US and it'll need a good amount of Wi-Fi power as well to keep Google's "virtual network" running.

Keeping it restricted to the Nexus 6 will allow Google to keep a close eye on how the hardware and software are both interacting with the new service.

Not much else is known about the network but we do know it'll automatically redial if a call been cut mid conversation.

So far it has only been confirmed as a US service but it may come to other territories in the future.

Here’s a partnership that may come as a surprise to many: Microsoft and Google are working together to help make Angular 2 — the next (and somewhat controversial) version of Google’s JavaScript web app framework — better.

Angular has been using its own AtScript superset of Microsoft’s TypeScript for a while now. TypeScript is Microsoft’s attempt at extending JavaScript with features like type annotations, generics and modules. Going forward, the two languages will converge. Angular 2 will be written in TypeScript and developers will be able to write their Angular 2 applications in this language,too.

The AtScript language made its debut last October, but it looks like the AtScript name will be retired in favor of TypeScript.

Angular, at various times in its development, was written in plain JavaScript, Google’s own Dart language and AtScript (there are still separate Dart and JavaScript versions of Angular 1.x today). AtScript added features like introspection, as well as field and metadata annotations to TypeScript. TypeScript will now adopt these features, too, starting with the upcoming 1.5 release of the language, which will launch in beta within the next few weeks.

“Working closely with a rich library like Angular has helped TypeScript to evolve additional language features that simplify end-to-end application development, including annotations, a way to add metadata to class declarations for use by dependency injection or compilation directives,” Microsoft’s corporate vice president of its Developer Division S. “Soma” Somasegar writes in today’s announcement. “Both teams are looking forward to continuing to move TypeScript and JavaScript forward together in the future, including working with the ECMAScript standards body on the future of types in JavaScript.”

Angular 2 has been widely criticized in the developer community because it breaks compatibility with the previous version. Adopting a Microsoft-led language may make it even harder for some to stomach the move to the new version. It’s definitely a win for TypeScript, though, which has seen growing adoption over the last year since its 1.0 release.

The announcement was made at the ng-conf Angular conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, today. We’ve embedded the video from the presentation today (the discussion of TypeScript starts about 20 minutes into the video):