notifications

Chrome is getting more proactive on browser safety. The changes are coming to both desktops and Android devices. It's part of the browser's "Safety Check" feature which already warns users if a password has been compromised or if a website appears ... unsafe. The feature is expanding to cover permissions and notifications. The former involves the way Chrome controls whether or not a specific website has access to computer resources and data such as a microphone, webcam or precise location. Chrome will now start automatically revoking permissions from websites the user rarely visits. Google has ... (view more)

Apple says it will demand a court order before handing over details of a user's push notifications. It follows revelations that foreign officials were using the tactics for surveillance, with questions asked about whether the Department of Justice ... does the same in the US. A push notification is a message created by an app and shown on the phone screen even if the app itself is closed. This could be anything from a summary of a new email to a breaking story from a news app. Senator Ron Wyden wrote to the DOJ earlier this month to report a tip that both US and foreign governments (said to be ... (view more)

Phone "addiction" is caused more by boredom, rather than nagging notifications according to a newly-published study. It also found that the "endless scroll" feature on some apps was most likely to detain users. The study is the work of the London ... School of Economics and Political Science and published in a journal titled "Computers in Human Behavior." (Source: sciencedirect.com ) Researchers wanted to explore the theory that people are constantly looking at their phones in response to notifications and whether pausing, hiding or filtering such notifications might change user ... (view more)

Microsoft is making two changes to make notifications less disruptive but still useful. The changes affects Microsoft's Edge browser and follow in the footsteps of changes made in Chrome and Firefox. The first change affects standard notifications ... which appear at the top of the screen. They bring information from a website even when the user doesn't have it open. For example, a video streaming site might display a notification when it uploads a new episode of a series the user has watched in the past. Browser makers have struggled to get the balance right between satisfying users who find ... (view more)

Windows 10 users will soon get slightly clearer notifications when an update is ready. They will also get a reminder of the risks of updating a laptop running on battery power. The notifications will appear in the Windows 10 Action Center, located ... at the bottom right of the screen. Scheduling Updates Easier As well as telling users an update is ready, it will give the chance to click on one of three options. Two options are already familiar: to update immediately ("Restart Now") and to delay the update until later that night ("Restart Tonight"). The latter option simply reschedules for an ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Sam G. writes: " Dear Dennis, I just purchased an unlocked Verizon Samsung Galaxy S10+ on ebay. The phone works great. I'm currently using an AT ... (view more)

Mozilla is reducing the likelihood Firefox users will be bothered by website notification requests. It will make browsing a lot less frustrating, but will upset some website owners. What are Website Notifications? Notifications in web browsers work ... in a similar way to notifications from apps on a mobile phone or tablet. As an example, a user of a streaming video site might agree to accept browser notifications. They could then get notifications whenever the site adds a new episode of a TV series they've previously watched on the site. On Windows 10, this notification might appear in the ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Samuel D. writes: " Dear Dennis, Recently my Galaxy s6 phone notified me via the Google Play store icon that an update was available for BlueMail (which I use for emails). I updated BlueMail, but the Google Play icon still has a ... badge stating that there is one update available for BlueMail. It seems that the Google Play store badge won't go away . I've tried updating the app again but there is only the option to 'launch app' and no updates. I've tried rebooting the phone and yet the Google Play store icon is still showing updates . I've searched Google for ' Google Play ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Debra P. writes: " Dear Dennis, Lately I have been inundated with Windows 10 popup notifications that come from websites I've visited previously. I also receive a lot of email alerts. The popups are coming from bottom right corner ... of my screen and I have no idea how to stop it. Can you please tell me how to disable all Windows 10 notifications ? " My response: I asked Debra if she would like me to connect with her using my remote desktop support service in order to have a closer look, and she agreed. Below I will discuss my findings. How to Fix: Disable All Windows 10 ... (view more)

Microsoft has released the latest major update to Windows 10 for 2018. The main changes are most useful for people who do a lot of work on their PC, particularly if they use multiple computers. The update is part of Microsoft's new approach to ... evolving Windows 10. It continues to issue monthly security fixes, but has dropped the old approach of issuing new features as and when they are ready, then rounding them up in a 'service pack' every year or so before eventually moving on to the next version of Windows. Instead, the idea is to never have a completely new version, but rather to add new ... (view more)