According to Android Authority, Google plans to remove nearly 900,000 abandoned apps from Play Store. Reports say available apps on the Google Play Store could decrease by nearly a third. Both Google and Apple have introduced measures to address abandoned apps or apps that have not been updated in the past two years.
This amounts to 869,000 apps for Google, while Apple has approximately 650,000. According to CNET, Google intends to conceal these applications, making it impossible for users to download them until their developers update them. Both companies are taking these precautions to protect the security of their users.
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Older applications do not take advantage of Android and iOS updates, new APIs, or new development techniques that provide enhanced security. As a result, older applications may contain security flaws that newer applications do not, according to the report.
Google Signs Deal to Pay 300 Publishers in Europe
Meanwhile, Google has signed deals to pay more than 300 publishers in Germany, France, and four other EU countries for their news and will roll out a tool to make it easier for others to sign up too.
According to Reuters, the move to be announced publicly later on Wednesday followed the adoption of landmark EU copyright rules three years ago that require Google and other online platforms to pay musicians, performers, authors, news publishers and journalists for using their work.
News publishers, among Google’s fiercest critics, have long urged governments to ensure online platforms pay fair remuneration for their content. Australia last year made such payments mandatory while Canada introduced similar legislation last month. “So far, we have agreements that cover more than 300 national, local, and specialist news publications in Germany, Hungary, France, Austria, the Netherlands, and Ireland, with many
more discussions ongoing,” says Sulina Connal, Google’s director for news and publishing partnerships.
Two-thirds of this group are German publishers including Der Spiegel, Die Zeit and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
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“We are now announcing the launch of a new tool to make offers to thousands more news publishers, starting in Germany and Hungary, and rolling out to other EU countries over the coming months,” Connal said in the blog post.
The tool offers publishers an extended news preview agreement that allows Google to show snippets and thumbnails for a licensing fee.