Worst Apps of 2016

We had a bunch of great apps in 2016. So many fun and exciting apps made their way to your homescreen. This year was not without fails though. Google launched two massively hyped apps that didn’t last more than a day before they were irrelevant. We also saw old favorites become cluttered and terrible. These are the worst apps of 2016.

Google Allo

Google Allo promised to revolutionize the way we chat with each other from our smartphones. The app was to deliver a more expressive way to communicate through the use of art, emojis, text size and other features. The app ultimately fell flat when it couldn’t be used to talk to anyone on hangouts. The thought of getting everyone to change messaging services just to use the new features was too much. The app didn’t last 24 hours before the buzz was completely gone.

Google Duo

Launched side by side with Allo, Duo is a bare-bones video chat service that had little to offer. Hangouts, Skype, Snapchat, Facebook messenger and many other apps that you probably already use, have video chat options. Even though this app has over ten million downloads, it was never able to take off.

Snapchat

Snapchat’s Discover section has become a vessel for the Kardashian family to violate you with their boobies and butts. Mixed in with the stories from your friends, these articles often contain nudity and borderline adult material fed right to the phones of children of all ages. Fantastic.

Facebook

Remember Facebook? Neither do I. This app has been the center of a heated debate of the fake news epidemic. Often featuring news stories that are highly inaccurate or just flat out lies, this app has the ability to spread false information on a massive scale. This activity going unchecked by Facebook has earn this app the title of one of the worst apps of the year.

Let us know what your list is for the worst app of the year, in the comments below.

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Worst Apps of 2016

We had a bunch of great apps in 2016. So many fun and exciting apps made their way to your homescreen. This year was not without fails though. Google launched two massively hyped apps that didn't last more than a day before they were irrelevant. We also saw old favorites become cluttered and terrible. These are the worst apps of 2016.

Google Allo

Google Allo promised to revolutionize the way we chat with each other from our smartphones. The app was to deliver a more expressive way to communicate through the use of art, emojis, text size and other features. The app ultimately fell flat when it couldn't be used to talk to anyone on hangouts. The thought of getting everyone to change messaging services just to use the new features was too much. The app didn't last 24 hours before the buzz was completely gone.

Google Duo

Launched side by side with Allo, Duo is a bare-bones video chat service that had little to offer. Hangouts, Skype, Snapchat, Facebook messenger and many other apps that you probably already use, have video chat options. Even though this app has over ten million downloads, it was never able to take off.

Snapchat

Snapchat's Discover section has become a vessel for the Kardashian family to violate you with their boobies and butts. Mixed in with the stories from your friends, these articles often contain nudity and borderline adult material fed right to the phones of children of all ages. Fantastic.

Facebook

Remember Facebook? Neither do I. This app has been the center of a heated debate of the fake news epidemic. Often featuring news stories that are highly inaccurate or just flat out lies, this app has the ability to spread false information on a massive scale. This activity going unchecked by Facebook has earn this app the title of one of the worst apps of the year.

Let us know what your list is for the worst app of the year, in the comments below.

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Full ADB Root, System Read/Write, and dm-verity Off Achieved for All LG G5 Variants

Expanding on their previous guide, XDA Senior Member Honestly Annoying has demonstrated how to get full ADB root access, system read/write permissions, and disabling dm-verity protection for all variants of the LG G5. This was previously released only for the Sprint model, but is now available for all variants.

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Full ADB Root, System Read/Write, and dm-verity Off Achieved for All LG G5 Variants

Expanding on their previous guide, XDA Senior Member Honestly Annoying has demonstrated how to get full ADB root access, system read/write permissions, and disabling dm-verity protection for all variants of the LG G5. This was previously released only for the Sprint model, but is now available for all variants.

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Qualcomm Accused of Antitrust Violations in South Korea, Faces a $853 Million Fine

Qualcomm has faced antitrust accusations in multiple countries over the last few years. The company recently settled a big one within the country of China, and they were accused of similar allegations in the EU back in 2015 as well. Today, it’s been announced that a regulator within South Korea wants to fine Qualcomm $853 million over its own patent-licensing business. This announcement comes after a 3-year investigation completed by the Korea Fair Trade Commission.

The Korea Fair Trade Commission feels that Qualcomm has violated the country’s antitrust laws by limiting competing chip makers’ access to its patents. The commission also feels that Qualcomm ended up forcing smartphone OEMs into unfair license agreements by refusing to supply important chips for phones to companies who didn’t agree with their terms (which includes purchasing licenses the OEM didn’t need). Lastly, they’re accused of using their market position as a leveraging tool in an attempt to force smartphone OEMs into accepting unfair terms.

As mentioned, we’ve seen these accusations come up before in regards to Qualcomm, as other countries have come to the same conclusion as well. In previous cases, Qualcomm has gone ahead and paid the fine so they could continue doing business in the country. However, The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Qualcomm will contest the decision. Qualcomm doesn’t feel they have hindered other chip makers from selling their own products within the country.

Qualcomm also says their licensing deals have existed in South Korea, and all over the world, for decades. Since South Korea hadn’t felt the need to complain about their business practices before, they question the legitimacy about this recent accusation. This recent ruling won’t go into effect until the commission issues a formal written order, which is said to take anywhere from weeks to months to put together. It’s at this point where Qualcomm will have 60 days to either pay the fine or initiate the appeal process.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

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Rumor Suggests Samsung is Integrating Bixby in the Galaxy S8’s Native Apps

Back in October, Samsung announced they were acquiring Viv Labs and their entire AI platform. For those who are unaware, the founders of Viv Labs were the same group of people who worked on Siri (before Apple acquired them back in 2010). The big product from Viv Labs is an AI-powered voice assistant known as Viv. This voice assistant AI excels in natural language processing and is said to be more powerful than Siri is today.

It’s no surprise that Viv Labs was on Samsung’s radar, as we’ve been seeing a lot of companies wanting to get into this market. Amazon’s Alexa personal assistant has found success in the company’s Echo products, Google dove into the market with Google Home, and even Apple has started focusing on expanding the capabilities of Siri lately. Since the original announcement, it’s been rumored that Samsung will replace S Voice with this new tech from Viv Labs, and it will debut with the launch of the Galaxy S8.

It’s believed that Samsung will call their new personal assistant Bixby, thanks to a trademark that was filed in their home country of South Korea. As we’ve seen with the success of Amazon’s Alexa assistant, the more things it can do the better experience the user will have with the service. Google Home has been struggling in this area, but Google has launched Actions on Google that open up the platform to 3rd-party developers.

Yesterday, SamMobile’s sources have told them that Samsung is working hard to make sure most of their native applications will support this Bixby personal assistant feature. The article didn’t go into much detail about how powerful it will be, but uses the Gallery application as an example, saying we can ask Bixby to show us photos or videos that match a particular criteria. We’ll likely have to wait until Samsung’s official launch event before we learn more details about Bixby, though.

Source: SamMobile

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Rumor Suggests Samsung is Integrating Bixby in the Galaxy S8’s Native Apps

Back in October, Samsung announced they were acquiring Viv Labs and their entire AI platform. For those who are unaware, the founders of Viv Labs were the same group of people who worked on Siri (before Apple acquired them back in 2010). The big product from Viv Labs is an AI-powered voice assistant known as Viv. This voice assistant AI excels in natural language processing and is said to be more powerful than Siri is today.

It's no surprise that Viv Labs was on Samsung's radar, as we've been seeing a lot of companies wanting to get into this market. Amazon's Alexa personal assistant has found success in the company's Echo products, Google dove into the market with Google Home, and even Apple has started focusing on expanding the capabilities of Siri lately. Since the original announcement, it's been rumored that Samsung will replace S Voice with this new tech from Viv Labs, and it will debut with the launch of the Galaxy S8.

It's believed that Samsung will call their new personal assistant Bixby, thanks to a trademark that was filed in their home country of South Korea. As we've seen with the success of Amazon's Alexa assistant, the more things it can do the better experience the user will have with the service. Google Home has been struggling in this area, but Google has launched Actions on Google that open up the platform to 3rd-party developers.

Yesterday, SamMobile's sources have told them that Samsung is working hard to make sure most of their native applications will support this Bixby personal assistant feature. The article didn't go into much detail about how powerful it will be, but uses the Gallery application as an example, saying we can ask Bixby to show us photos or videos that match a particular criteria. We'll likely have to wait until Samsung's official launch event before we learn more details about Bixby, though.

Source: SamMobile

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