Google adds new 'Confidential mode' to Gmail on Android to help you protect the sensitive data you share.

Technology makes life a whole lot easier when it comes to sharing data. But it's not without risk. Google is kind-of well aware of that and is introducing a new 'Confidential mode' in Gmail on Android. A new mode that will give users more control on the data they share with others.

Google has started rolling out 'Confidential mode' worldwide and to start using it, bring up the compose email window in Gmail. Tap the three vertical dots in the top-right corner of the screen and choose 'Confidential Mode'. Set an expiration between 1 day to 5 years. Once 'Confidential Mode' is activated, Gmail will prevent the receiver from copying, forwarding, and printing the email and its attachments. However, the receiver can take a screenshot and photo of your emails and attachments. Google also warns about malicious programs on the receiver's device that may still be able to copy and edit the data you're sharing.

Gmail users can also choose for a passcode or SMS passcode be sent to the receiver. Google will handle that for you. Just send the email and the receiver will be notified of your intention to share an email with them. The receiver must sign in with a Google account to view the email and attachments in a browser with the expiration date at the top. The default expiration date is 1 week. Additionally, the sender can revoke access at any time in their own inbox.

'Confidential mode' is a useful feature when sharing data such as health records, business plan or a copy of your passport. While it's an additional layer of protection, bear in mind that it is not entirely fool-proof.

'Confidential Mode' is already being pushed out to users. Just be patient if you do not see it yet, it's on the way. IF you do not use Gmail, you can download it free in Google Play Store.

Firefox Focus browser for Android finally gets 'Find in Page' and 'Request Desktop Page' in latest update.

If you value your privacy, Firefox Focus is the browser made just for you. By default, Firefox Focus blocks ad trackers and lets you easily erase your history, passwords, and cookies. In fact, the browser cleans up everything each time you close it after use. Firefox Focus also features a minimalistic design with a few configurations options.

Today the app was updated with two new simple features. Features that you expect to find in any modern browser, like the 'Find in Page' that lets you search text on a webpage. Firefox Focus is also adding a 'Request Desktop Page' feature to easily switch between mobile and desktop versions of pages you visit.

These two new features are available in version 6.0 of Firefox Focus which can be downloaded free in the Google Play Store.

Microsoft adds external image blocking to Outlook for Android.

Microsoft added a "Block External Images" feature in Outlook for Android. This feature, once activated, will prevent images in emails sent by people, not in your contacts from downloading automatically. Microsoft says "Block external images setting will not block images that are embedded in the email as attachments, including most emails sent from friends and family."

While not a security threat, blocking images in emails protects users privacy as these emails can sometimes include references to images hosted on the internet and can be used to track whether someone has read an email. All in all, this blocking feature is a welcome addition if you value your privacy. 

By default, the image blocking setting is disabled. In order to activate, tap the hamburger menu - the three horizontal bars at the top left - then tap the settings icon at the bottom left. Tap your email account or any other email if you have several accounts and toggle the blocking setting. It turns blue when activated.

This update is already available to download in Google Play Store.

Privacy-minded AppLock app for Android gets support for Android Oreo 8.0.

I got my brand-new OnePlus 5T yesterday and I love it. It’s super-fast and best of all, it cost less than $500 and comes with the same specs as high-end and very expensive so-called flagships – looking at you Apple and Samsung. Anyway, this is not the point of this blog post. It’s about AppLock, an app for Android that protects your privacy.

We store all kind of stuff on our devices, but we don’t necessarily want to show them to anyone handling our phones or tablets. That’s where AppLock comes in handy. The app lets you hide your photos and videos from prying eyes or lock apps.

I used the app on my former phone, a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. So, I downloaded the app from Google Store to lock some apps. Before you ask, I have my reasons and I do not want to share them with you. This is what privacy is all about and AppLock has been developed just for that. As a side note, my new phone, the OnePlus 5T has AppLock built-in – which is cool.

The standalone version of AppLock has been updated today. The changelog does not say much about the changes. There’s some optimized functions and bug fixes. The fact that the app now supports Android 8.0 Oreo is probably most newsworthy. But again, the changelog does not go into details about it.

If you’re privacy-minded, check-out AppLock in Google PlayStore. It supports protecting your privacy with a password, pattern and even fingerprint. Give it a try. The app contains in-app purchases should you want to unlock advanced features.

Firefox Focus 4.01 for Android lets you create custom search engines and adds sites to an autocomplete list.

A new version of Firefox Focus for Android is out, bringing some useful features. Before we dive into the changes, I want to point out the fact that Firefox Focus presents itself like no other browser on the market. The mobile browser is developed by Mozilla, which claims that Firefox Focus lets you “browse like no one’s watching. The new Firefox Focus automatically blocks a wide range of online trackers – from the moment you launch it to the second you leave.” In other words, Mozilla takes your privacy very seriously and erases your history after use. If you’re a privacy-minded user, Firefox Focus is the browser you should set as the default on your Android device. It also features a minimalistic design with few configurations options.  So much so that it does not even support tabs. Firefox Focus also supports most of the popular search engine that you can set in the browser’s settings.

Version 4 of the browser improves on the search engine features by letting users add their own search engines or remove the ones they don’t want. Mozilla added a new “Add another search engine” button in settings. To add a search engine of your own, tap Settings – the three-vertical bar at the top right of the app. Under Search, tap Add another search engine. Give your search a name and in the search string to use field, enter the link to your query.

Here are some popular search queries you can use:

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%s
• IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/find?q=%s
• Bing: https://www.bing.com/search?q=%s
• Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%s
• Bugzilla: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=%s
• Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/search?q=%s

When done, tap save.

Should you want to remove unwanted search engine, follow the same process and tap remove and put a check mark next to the search engine you want remove and tap the trash icon. Tap the back arrow to save your changes.

Mozilla also added an autocomplete feature to Firefox Focus so users can get to websites with less typing. Autocomplete can be enabled in Settings > URL Autocomplete. Then tap the switch next to the option you want two turn on. These two options are:

Default URL List: Enables autocomplete in the address bar for the most popular websites.

Custom URL: Enables autocomplete for web addresses that you enter yourself.

After you’re done, tap the back arrow to save your changes.

Firefox Focus is a robust browser for Android I strongly recommend you add to your app list. And it is available free for download in Google Play Store.

Mozilla temporarily disables newly added pull-to-refresh feature in Firefox Focus for Android following users complaints.

Exactly a week ago, Mozilla published an update that added swipe/pull-to-refresh feature to Firefox Focus, its privacy focused browser for Android. Today, they released another update to remove the refresh feature after users started reporting issues with it.

“…since it has the pull to refresh tab, I can’t scroll back to old messages for example in LinkedIn because it keeps refreshing the page…”, wrote a user in the reviews on Google Play Store. Most of the reports are along the same line. Another user wrote that ”…the refresh gesture triggers far too easily and I find myself constantly and unintentionally refreshing pages.”

Some users were happy to see the new feature go, while others suggested that Mozilla adds the option to disable it. “Glad to see pull to refresh gone. Now to fix tabs and double scroll because of the toolbar’s movement.” “Please make the swipe to refresh optional.”, wrote another.

The good thing is that Mozilla reacted quickly to disable the swipe/pull-to-refresh feature with today’s update which actually reverts the app to the state it was prior to last week’s update. The company did not say when a real fix will be issued, instead encouraging users to update the app through Google Play Store.