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Microsoft is pulling the plug on Android apps for Windows. The company said it’s ending support for Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA), the underlying component behind the Amazon Appstore (and other Android apps) in Windows 11. Microsoft told Engadget it was responding to “evolving customer needs.”

Microsoft first said in 2021 that Windows 11 would be able to run Android apps. When it arrived the following year, users could install the Amazon Appstore, and some individual Android apps were found in the Microsoft Store. The rollout was viewed as an answer to the dual threats of Android apps on Chromebooks and iOS apps on Apple Silicon Macs.

A Microsoft spokesperson clarified to Engadget why it’s now terminating the feature. “As part of our commitment to meeting evolving customer needs, we periodically update our product offerings,” they said. “This involves introducing new technical innovations and retiring products. Microsoft remains dedicated to an open platform and ecosystem, and we look forward to continuing to bring the best experiences and apps to Windows.”

With Microsoft blazing full-tilt into all things AI, it may now see its past attempts at making Windows a dramatically better touch-focused platform as no longer worth the resources. Another possibility, as The Verge speculates, is that people hunting for Android apps on Windows expected the full Google Play Store experience — not Amazon’s variant, which has an inferior overall selection.

Microsoft says customers who installed the Amazon Appstore (or other apps and games using WSA) on their Windows 11 machines before Tuesday can keep using them until March 5, 2025. Meanwhile, Amazon clarified that its Appstore and associate apps will no longer be discoverable in the Microsoft Store beginning on Wednesday. In addition, developers can no longer submit new apps for the Amazon Appstore on Windows, but those with existing ones can continue to submit updates for them until this time next year.

As for what’s next for Microsoft, the company is rumored to launch new Surface devices on March 21. The Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 are expected, with the company possibly marketing them as its first AI PCs.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-is-ending-support-for-android-apps-on-windows-213534468.html?src=rss 

Amid complaints that its search results have declined in quality, Google is tweaking its algorithms to do a better job of weeding out spammy or automated content. The company says the ranking updates, arriving in May, will “keep the lowest-quality content out of search.” Of particular note, Google says its engine will be better at eradicating today’s automated (read: AI-generated) content that’s harder to spot.

Google says it’s taking what it learned from a 2022 algorithmic tuneup to “reduce unhelpful, unoriginal content” and applying it to the new update. The company says the changes will send more traffic to “helpful and high-quality sites.” When combined with the updates from two years ago, Google estimates the revision will reduce spammy, unoriginal search results by 40 percent.

“This update involves refining some of our core ranking systems to help us better understand if webpages are unhelpful, have a poor user experience or feel like they were created for search engines instead of people,” Google product management director Elizabeth Tucker wrote. “This could include sites created primarily to match very specific search queries.”

Google sounds like it’s targeting AI-generated SEO spam with its notes about scaled content abuse. The company says it’s strengthening its approach to the growing problem of sites that generate garbage automated articles (as well as zeroing in on old-fashioned human-created spam).

“Today, scaled content creation methods are more sophisticated, and whether content is created purely through automation isn’t always as clear,” Tucker said. Google says the changes “will allow us to take action on more types of content with little to no value created at scale, like pages that pretend to have answers to popular searches but fail to deliver helpful content.”

AI-generated content farms shotgun-blasting content to game the system are an increasing problem, so Google’s changes — if they’re as effective as promised — will be welcome. Although sites spamming that content exclusively may be easier to spot, it will be interesting to see if scenarios where once-reputable outlets experimenting with AI-generated spam (CNET and Sports Illustrated are recent examples) will be affected.

Another change to the algorithm will tackle the practice of otherwise reputable sites hosting low-quality content from third parties designed to leech off the site’s good name. Google provides the example of an educational site hosting a third-party payday loan review. “We’ll now consider very low-value, third-party content produced primarily for ranking purposes and without close oversight of a website owner to be spam,” Tucker wrote.

Finally, Google’s updates will allegedly do better at rooting out expired domains bought by someone else and transformed into click mills. The search engine will begin treating those websites as spam.

You won’t see the improvements immediately as Google is giving site owners a two-month notice to adapt accordingly. The search engine changes will take effect on May 5.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-is-changing-its-search-results-to-weed-out-seo-spam-195259063.html?src=rss 

Apple has rolled out updates for many of its operating systems and none are more impactful than the changes to iOS — at least in the European Union. With the arrival of iOS 17.4, Apple is adhering to strict new rules in the bloc when it comes to the App Store. Apple now officially supports third-party app stores on iPhones in the EU, while developers can offer third-party payment options. Web browser makers no longer need to base their apps on Apple’s WebKit, while Apple is opening up the NFC chip to wireless payments that have nothing to do with Apple Pay.

While those game-changing updates are limited to the EU, iOS 17.4 does have some snazzy new features for folks elsewhere too. Apple Podcasts now offers automatic transcriptions in English, Spanish, French and German. The text will be highlighted in sync with the audio to make it easy to follow along. You’ll be able to search the text and tap it to start playing the audio at a certain point. 

Elsewhere, there are a bunch of new emoji for you to enjoy. They include a mushroom, phoenix, lime, broken chain and shaking heads. Apple has also updated 18 people and body emoji so that you can face them in either direction.

Other updates concern features like battery health, Siri (with the ability to read received messages in any supported language), stolen device protection and virtual card numbers for Apple Cash. Thanks to a caller ID update, when am Apple-verified business calls, you’ll see its name, logo and department title. There are a slew of bug fixes too.  

Along with iOS 17.4, Apple has also released iPadOS 17.4, which has many of the same changes including the App Store updates to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act. The company is also expected to roll out visionOS 1.1 (for Apple Vision Pro), macOS 14.4, watchOS 10.4 and HomePod 17.4 imminently.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ios-174-is-here-enabling-third-party-app-stores-in-the-eu-185812797.html?src=rss 

The deadline for compliance with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) is this Thursday and Google just dropped a document outlining exactly what changes it has made (or will make) to keep up with the law. These 20+ adjustments vary in scope, and impact search users, advertisers and third-party app developers.

One of the big search changes will be the inclusion of price comparison results from external aggregators when looking up things like flights or hotels. For example, searching Google for a one-way to Paris typically pulls up a module called the Google Flights unit — that’s the company’s own internal pricing aggregator. Competitor aggregators, like Kayak and Tripadvisor have been vocally displeased to have Google stomping around in their backyard for over a decade. In the EU at least, starting Thursday, these sorts of results will now show some results from these aggregators alongside Google’s own Flights results.

Android users are getting an easier way to switch out the search engine or browser, so as to not prioritize Google’s products above others. These choice screens appear when you set up the device for the first time, in the settings and at various intervals during use. The company’s already been doing this since 2021, but now there will be more choice screens to choose from. Google says this option is also coming to desktop Chrome users and iOS users in the near future.

Digital consent for advertising is a major part of the DMA. Google users will now have to opt into sharing data across the company’s various services for the purpose of personalized advertising. This is done via the settings page. Additionally, users may encounter consent banners while browsing, which will ask if they want to link data across Google services.

The DMA requires app stores to offer alternative billing systems for in-app purchases. To comply, Google recently launched user-choice billing (UCB) as an option for developers to offer their own billing systems. This program is expanding to game developers this week. Of course, Android devices could always run third-party apps with their own billing systems, but now they’ll be easier to implement.

Google has said that as part of its DMA compliance it will begin to provide advertisers with “some additional data, which is shared in a way that protects user privacy and customers’ commercially-sensitive information.” We’ve reached out to the company for any information on what that data might be. On Thursday, the company will also be launching its Data Portability API so that users can move their data off Google’s products more easily.

Of course, Google couldn’t help but drop a bit of shade in its compliance announcement, telling users that “some of the features that we have developed to help people get things done quickly and securely online — like providing recommendations across different products — won’t work in the same way anymore.” Daddy corporation knows best.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-just-outlined-exactly-how-its-changing-ahead-of-thursdays-dma-deadline-174518625.html?src=rss 

Samsung’s 32-inch M80C smart monitor is on sale for $400, down from $700. This $300 discount represents a savings of 43 percent and ties the lowest price ever recorded for the display.

The M80C is both a regular 4K computer monitor and a standalone streaming box, with native support for apps like Prime Video, Netflix and Disney+, among others. It also provides access to Samsung’s proprietary TV Plus service, with its selection of free live and on-demand programming.

Samsung’s monitor integrates with some of the biggest on-demand gaming platforms, including Xbox Cloud Gaming and NVIDIA GeForce Now. The 60Hz refresh rate won’t break any speed records, but should allow for fairly smooth gameplay. 

Beyond entertainment, the M80C offers some built-in productivity tools. There’s standalone access to Microsoft Office 365 and a tool that remotely connects to a PC or a Samsung mobile device, with no cables required. The integrated camera can even handle work meetings and the like. The line between computer monitor and entry-level PC continues to blur.

All of the above features can be controlled via the included remote or by using Alexa-assisted voice commands. This deal is for the white model and is available from both Amazon and Samsung. 

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsungs-32-inch-smart-monitor-is-300-off-right-now-181556040.html?src=rss 

Hades is a major get for Netflix as a mobile exclusive. The dungeon crawler is one of the best games in recent memory and it could help bolster the growing audience Netflix has built for its strong library of games. Subscribers will be able to play Hades on their iPhones and iPads at no extra cost on March 19. You can preregister so you’re ready to go when the game hits the App Store.

You play as Zagreus, the son of Hades, as you battle through a randomized set of chambers and enemies in an attempt to escape from the Underworld. This is a roguelite game. Every time you die, you’ll go back to the start and lose most of the perks you picked up during a run, but you’ll gradually unlock permanent upgrades that will help Zagreous make it to Mount Olympus. You may also be equipped with extra knowledge about a certain enemy or trap that caused your demise.

In addition, Zagreus will receive gifts from other Olympians to help him hack and slash through his enemies. It’s his interactions with the other characters that form the backbone of the story and help make Hades stand out.

Developer Supergiant Games had long thought of Hades as a good fit for mobile, given its pick-up-and-play nature. Although Netflix’s games are typically available on both iOS and Android, that won’t be the case for Hades, at least for now. Supergiant has stuck with iOS for the mobile versions of its games (already having a Mac version of Hades helped here since that platform and iOS both use the Metal API). Not only that, the studio is made up of a small team. While Supergiant was preparing the mobile port of Hades, it was also working on the sequel to the 2020 hit.

It took over a year of extra development time to get Hades ready for mobile devices. “The foremost goal was to make this an uncompromising version of Hades,” while making sure the game was “as performant and smooth as possible,” Supergiant creative director Greg Kasavin recently told reporters.

A major focus of that work was making sure to get the touch controls just right. The buttons have haptic feedback. You can resize and reposition the controls and save your configuration. What’s more, the buttons are customized for each action. So, when you go to pet the adorable multi-headed devil dog Cerberus, there’ll be a dedicated button just for that. Don’t worry if you prefer to use a Bluetooth controller or a plug-in gamepad such as the Backbone One, since Hades will be compatible with those. Other features include 60 fps gameplay, cloud saves, achievements and offline play.

Hades is coming to Netflix Games at an ideal time for Supergiant. It will both bring new eyes to the game and give longtime fans an excuse to revisit the classic ahead of the sequel’s arrival. Hades II is set to go into early access on PC this spring.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/hades-hits-ios-as-a-netflix-mobile-exclusive-on-march-19-170014127.html?src=rss