Nearly 1 in 5 Android devices in the U.S. run Android 11, 6 months after release

Google has said that adoption of Android 11 is the best it’s ever been, and six months after release, new data suggests nearly 1 in 5 Android devices have been updated to the new software.

According to data from StatCounter (via derStandard), Android 11 adoption has really picked up over the last few months. In the U.S., where we’ve seen devices from Google and Samsung launch with the new OS, over 20 percent of phones run Android 11. The software has almost surpassed Android 9, with Android 10 taking the biggest marketshare.

Data via StatCounter

StatCounter shows data from other parts of the world, too, including Canada, U.K., Germany, and Oceania. Android 11 adoption is on an upward trajectory no matter how you look at it. Six months after release, the numbers probably aren’t as high as Google would hope. But there’s such a high volume of Android phones on the market that getting a significant amount updated is a major challenge.

The latest versions of Android historically have a difficult time being distributed, at least early on. But things appear to be improving, with adoption likely to continue going up over the next several months.

Official Android distribution statistics are now only available in Android Studio, so they’re not available for everyone to see. Google has worked hard to speed up software updates through initiatives like Project Treble, and has also partnered with Qualcomm to support four Android versions for new Snapdragon chipsets. That means when consumers get a new Android device, that’ll get something like Android 11 plus 3 more years of Android OS updates.

That doesn’t mean manufacturers will definitely upgrade your old device with four different Android versions. But the framework is there, hopefully meaning that adoption for new versions of Android — such as Android 12, which has already been announced — will continue to trend up a lot quicker than we’ve seen in the past.

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WhatsApp will soon let you encrypt your chat backups with a password

Although WhatsApp offers end-to-end encryption, if you use its Chat backup feature your messages and media are not protected by end-to-end encryption when stored on Google Drive or iCloud. Instead, the backups are only protected by server-side encryption and the respective cloud storage services can decrypt the backups if the need arises. This makes the Chat backup solution less than ideal for the privacy-conscious. WhatsApp is now working on a new feature that will let you encrypt your chat backups with a password, thereby preventing third-party access without your authorization.

According to WhatsApp features tracker WABetaInfo, the Facebook-owned messenger has already started working on password-protected cloud backup encryption. The feature will let users protect their chat database and media from unauthorized access using a password. As you can see in the attached screenshots, the feature will prompt users to enter their phone numbers if they wish to encrypt their chat backups with a password. Then, it will let users set a password to encrypt future backups.

As previously announced, @WhatsApp is working on cloud backups encryption.

The chat database and media will be safe from unauthorized access when using a password. The password is private and it’s not sent to WhatsApp.
It will be available in a future build for iOS and Android. pic.twitter.com/Lp06PaECBX

— WABetaInfo (@WABetaInfo) March 8, 2021

WABetaInfo further adds that your password won’t be shared with WhatsApp and the screenshots reveal that the messenger won’t be able to help you recover forgotten passwords for the same reason. As you can probably tell by looking at the screenshots, the upcoming feature will be available for both the iOS and Android versions of the app. It’s also worth noting that the feature will also work with local Android backups.

• The chat database is already encrypted now (excluding media), but the algorithm is reversible and it’s not end-to-end encrypted.
• Local Android backups will be compatible with this feature.

The chat DB and media will be encrypted using a password that only you know. https://t.co/WAliLUnF18

— WABetaInfo (@WABetaInfo) March 8, 2021

At the moment, WhatsApp hasn’t shared any official information about the feature. But we expect to learn more in the coming weeks. We’ll update this post as soon as it starts rolling out to users with a future update. It’s worth mentioning that this isn’t the first time we’re hearing about this feature. WABetaInfo first talked about it in May last year but, at the time, we didn’t have as much information about it.

Over the last few weeks, WhatsApp has been in the limelight for its updated privacy policy. The policy, which mandates data sharing with Facebook, has met with severe backlash from users worldwide. It has also triggered a mass exodus, with hundreds of thousands of users switching over to other alternatives like Telegram and Signal.

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PSA: Rescue your phone from the FluBot SMS malware with malninstall

FluBot is an Android-targeting malware that impersonates other apps on a victim’s phone to steal their banking credentials and other private information. It spreads through SMS and can eavesdrop on incoming notifications, read and write SMSes, make calls, and transmit the victims’ entire contact list back to its control center. The virus also lures victims into changing the Accessibility settings on their phones, forbidding them to uninstall it. If you are also a victim of FluBot and are unable to remove it from your smartphone, you should use an app called “malinstall” to get rid of this malware.

FluBot is transmitted mainly through weblinks shared via SMS. These SMSes have persuasive texts that entice the user into clicking on the link, which usually points to a hacked website where the FluBot installation package is hosted. The installer for the malware is hidden within other genuine-looking APKs. When users download and install these APKs, FluBot is also installed on their devices. This malware then invites users to grant access to Android’s Accessibility service and once that happens, it can execute screen taps and other commands without the knowledge of the user.

Swiss cybersecurity firm PRODAFT analyzed FluBot and collected their findings in a report which can be found here (via The Record). The report says FluBot can draw fake webview on top of the target applications to steal users’ private information like online banking login details or credit card details. FluBot downloads fake login screens of different banks from its server almost instantaneously and presents it on top of the legitimate application, leaving hardly any room for suspicion. As you would expect, the details entered by users on these pages are sent to FluBot’s control center and misused thereafter.

FluBot lays low on a user’s smartphone in the form of fake applications. Some of the names used by the attackers for these fake apps include “FedEx,” “DHL,” “Correos,” and “Chrome.” The malware also replaces a user’s default SMS app to intercept all banking-related one-time passwords (OTPs) or access keys received via SMS. Additionally, by transmitting a user’s contact list to its server, the malware sends similar SMSes to other people in the contacts to woo them like the original victim.

This propensity to spread in a flu-like fashion with exponential growth is what earns the malware its name as well. The malware already has access to mobile phone numbers of 11 million Spanish users (nearly 25% of the Spanish population) while researchers at PRODAFT predict that it will collect all phone numbers in Spain if it is not stopped in time.

How to remove FluBot?

One of the most concerning aspects of the FluBot malware is that once it gets access to Accessibility services, it prevents users from uninstalling. When a user tried to uninstall an infected app, they get a toast message saying, “You can not perform this action on a service system,” by force-closing the Settings app, and that makes it even more gruesome. To address this issue, XDA Recognized Developer linuxct has created an open-source app called malninstall.

To uninstall FluBot, malninstall is temporarily set as the default launcher. This inhibits the malware from simulating unwanted taps in the UI and lets the user successfully uninstall it without any hindrance. Once the uninstallation process is complete, malninstall prompts users to revert back to the previous launcher. You can see it in action in the video below:

If you are infected by FluBot, you can download the latest version of malninstall from GitHub by clicking or tapping here. You can also find all the older releases on the GitHub page. For more details, you can visit the malninstall XDA thread linked below:

malninstall – Remove FluBot (SMS virus) XDA Forums thread

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PSA: Rescue your phone from the FluBot SMS malware with malninstall

FluBot is an Android-targeting malware that impersonates other apps on a victim’s phone to steal their banking credentials and other private information. It spreads through SMS and can eavesdrop on incoming notifications, read and write SMSes, make calls, and transmit the victims’ entire contact list back to its control center. The virus also lures victims into changing the Accessibility settings on their phones, forbidding them to uninstall it. If you are also a victim of FluBot and are unable to remove it from your smartphone, you should use an app called “malinstall” to get rid of this malware.

FluBot is transmitted mainly through weblinks shared via SMS. These SMSes have persuasive texts that entice the user into clicking on the link, which usually points to a hacked website where the FluBot installation package is hosted. The installer for the malware is hidden within other genuine-looking APKs. When users download and install these APKs, FluBot is also installed on their devices. This malware then invites users to grant access to Android’s Accessibility service and once that happens, it can execute screen taps and other commands without the knowledge of the user.

Swiss cybersecurity firm PRODAFT analyzed FluBot and collected their findings in a report which can be found here (via The Record). The report says FluBot can draw fake webview on top of the target applications to steal users’ private information like online banking login details or credit card details. FluBot downloads fake login screens of different banks from its server almost instantaneously and presents it on top of the legitimate application, leaving hardly any room for suspicion. As you would expect, the details entered by users on these pages are sent to FluBot’s control center and misused thereafter.

FluBot lays low on a user’s smartphone in the form of fake applications. Some of the names used by the attackers for these fake apps include “FedEx,” “DHL,” “Correos,” and “Chrome.” The malware also replaces a user’s default SMS app to intercept all banking-related one-time passwords (OTPs) or access keys received via SMS. Additionally, by transmitting a user’s contact list to its server, the malware sends similar SMSes to other people in the contacts to woo them like the original victim.

This propensity to spread in a flu-like fashion with exponential growth is what earns the malware its name as well. The malware already has access to mobile phone numbers of 11 million Spanish users (nearly 25% of the Spanish population) while researchers at PRODAFT predict that it will collect all phone numbers in Spain if it is not stopped in time.

How to remove FluBot?

One of the most concerning aspects of the FluBot malware is that once it gets access to Accessibility services, it prevents users from uninstalling. When a user tried to uninstall an infected app, they get a toast message saying, “You can not perform this action on a service system,” by force-closing the Settings app, and that makes it even more gruesome. To address this issue, XDA Recognized Developer linuxct has created an open-source app called malninstall.

To uninstall FluBot, malninstall is temporarily set as the default browser. This inhibits the malware from simulating unwanted taps in the UI and lets the user successfully uninstall it without any hindrance. Once the uninstallation process is complete, malninstall prompts users to revert back to the previous launcher. You can see it in action in the video below:

If you are infected by FluBot, you can download the latest version of malninstall from GitHub by clicking or tapping here. You can also find all the older releases on the GitHub page. For more details, you can visit the malninstall XDA thread linked below:

malninstall – Remove FluBot (SMS virus) XDA Forums thread

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Honor 20 series and Honor View 20 are getting EMUI 11-based Magic UI 4.0 update

Magic UI 4.0 is the next major update to Honor’s UX, which in turn builds upon the changes and improvements that Huawei undertakes for EMUI 11. The EMUI 11 update is already available on a handful of Huawei smartphones via stable channel, meaning Honor devices are ready to board the update train as well. In a bid to deliver the latest software experience to legacy devices, the Chinese OEM is now rolling out the Magic UI 4.0 update to the Honor 20, Honor 20 Pro, and the Honor View 20 across the globe.

According to a recent report from Huawei Central, the stable version of Magic UI 4.0 is now live for the global variants of the Honor View 20 and the Honor 20 series. The update carries version number 11.0.0.138 and is about 1.84GB in size. Although the underlying Android layer is apparently still based on Android 10, the new build brings along a refreshed UI and tons of new features including a multi-window mode, revamped Always on Display styles, collaborative note editing, and much more.

Honor 20 Forums || Honor 20 Pro Forums || Honor View 20 Forums

As with the previous EMUI 11 releases for different Huawei devices, this will be a phased rollout with only a small batch of aforementioned Honor phones initially receiving the OTA. If no critical issues crop up in the first phase and everything looks smooth, the rollout will gradually be expanded to more devices over the coming days.

If you own the Honor 20, Honor 20 Pro, or Honor View 20, keep an eye out for the Magic UI 4.0 OTA notification. Since the company is only offering limited access to the new software, it’s safe to say that it’ll be quite a while before the update hits all the devices out there. In case you haven’t received the update prompt yet, you can still manually check for the new build by navigating to the Update section in the Support app on your phone.

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Honor 20 series and Honor View 20 are getting EMUI 11-based Magic UI 4.0 update

Magic UI 4.0 is the next major update to Honor’s UX, which in turn builds upon the changes and improvements that Huawei undertakes for EMUI 11. The EMUI 11 update is already available on a handful of Huawei smartphones via stable channel, meaning Honor devices are ready to board the update train as well. In a bid to deliver the latest software experience to legacy devices, the Chinese OEM is now rolling out the Magic UI 4.0 update to the Honor 20, Honor 20 Pro, and the Honor View 20 across the globe.

According to a recent report from Huawei Central, the stable version of Magic UI 4.0 is now live for the global variants of the Honor View 20 and the Honor 20 series. The update carries version number 11.0.0.138 and is about 1.84GB in size. Although the underlying Android layer is apparently still based on Android 10, the new build brings along a refreshed UI and tons of new features including a multi-window mode, revamped Always on Display styles, collaborative note editing, and much more.

Honor 20 Forums || Honor 20 Pro Forums || Honor View 20 Forums

As with the previous EMUI 11 releases for different Huawei devices, this will be a phased rollout with only a small batch of aforementioned Honor phones initially receiving the OTA. If no critical issues crop up in the first phase and everything looks smooth, the rollout will gradually be expanded to more devices over the coming days.

If you own the Honor 20, Honor 20 Pro, or Honor View 20, keep an eye out for the Magic UI 4.0 OTA notification. Since the company is only offering limited access to the new software, it’s safe to say that it’ll be quite a while before the update hits all the devices out there. In case you haven’t received the update prompt yet, you can still manually check for the new build by navigating to the Update section in the Support app on your phone.

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Genshin Impact v1.4 update arrives March 17 with new character, Windblume Festival event, and more

Genshin Impact is by far one of the best new open-world RPGs out there, and it’s going to get even better soon. The game is slated to receive a major update (v1.4) with a host of new content on March 17th. The upcoming release will be the game’s second-biggest update this year, and it will include a new event called the Windblume Festival, new mini-games, a dating sim, and a number of small improvements. The update will be available for all the supported platforms, including  PC, Android, iOS, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.

The Windblume Festival event will offer players a series of mini-games and challenges organized by the Knights of Favonius and the Adventurers’ Guild. Players will be able to try their hand at these events alone or with friends to earn a variety of rewards, including two festival-exclusive items — the Windblume Festival Commemorative Balloon and the Windsong Lyre — and a new 4-star weapon called the Windblume Ode. Furthermore, the update will bring a new dating style story quest in which you’ll be able to spend some ‘quality time’ with Barbara, Noelle, Bennett, and Chongyun. It’s worth noting that players who have reached adventure rank 20 and completed the “Song of the Dragon and Freedom” quest will be able to take part in the festival.

Along with the new event, Genshin Impact v1.4 will also introduce a new 4-star playable character called “Thorny Benevolence” Rosaria. Rosaria will be a Cryo character who wields a polearm and can quickly maneuver herself behind her enemy to attack from the rear. Her elemental bursts will deal high Cryo DMG, followed by constant bursts of AoE Cryo DMG to nearby enemies over a period of time.

In addition to the new content, the update will bring a host of gameplay changes and optimizations. This will include a new inventory limit for Condensed Resin (increased from 3 to 5), support for manually cooking a dish even if you have already unlocked auto-cook, and the ability to reduce the world level by 1. While it is not confirmed, the banner for Genshin Impact’s 1.4 update hints at the comeback of Venti as the event’s featured 5-star banner character. This means that players have another chance to pull him and add the Anemo character to their roster. Along with the aforementioned changes, the update will include a host of other additions. You can learn more about them by following this link,

Genshin Impact (Free⁺, Google Play) →

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