Android allows users to install apps from any source, not just the official Google Play Store. Sideloading apps can be a risky procedure if you don’t know what you’re doing, as you may end up installing malware on your device, thinking you’re getting a different type of app.

Some developers could choose this way of offering popular apps to users, and that’s what Epic Games did with Fortnite until not too long ago. Developers can use the feature to beta test their apps before they hit the Play Store or installing custom apps they don’t necessarily want to share with others. Android users from regions where Google services might be banned could attempt to sideload apps from other sources. In short, there are plenty of reasons to want to install APK that don’t involve accessing the Play Store, and those Android users who feel comfortable doing it will not want the feature to go away. The good news is that Android 11 will keep supporting the functionality. The bad news is that it’s slightly more annoying than before.

The way it works right now, Android will ask you to grant an APK file install permissions. Once you do that, you can go back to the app in question and start the install process without losing any data.

The behavior has changed in Android 11, however. The install dialog will still pop up after you grant permission, but the app is gone from view as the system force quits it. Testers discovered the matter and reported it via the Google issue tracker. As Android Police explains, it all works as it’s supposed to. It’s not a bug, but rather a security feature. Upon restart, the sideloaded app is fully reloaded but may miss some data as it was shut down.

Downloading apps from unknown sources on Android 11 will crash the app during install. Image Source: Android PoliceThe animation above shows the problem in action. A Googler explained the new behavior as the new normal for sideloading apps:

The way the filesystem and storage mounts are setup in Android R has changed significantly. When an app starts without this permission, it gets a view of the filesystem that doesn’t allow writing to certain directories (eg Android/obb). Once the app has been granted this permission, that view is no longer accurate, and needs to be updated to a view that allows the app to write to certain directories. With the way the filesystem has been setup in R, changing that view on the fly is not possible. As mentioned in comment #16, we’re evaluating internally. I’m just providing additional details why this doesn’t work the way it did on Q.

The reason this happens is because of the Scoped Storage feature that Google will implement in Android 11. Scoped Storage will force apps to access its own isolated storage rather than getting access to the entire Android filesystem. It’s a security and privacy feature that Google wanted to implement Scoped Storage in Android 10 but postponed it to give developers time to adapt their apps to support the change.

In other words, you’ll still be able to sideload apps in Android 11 just like before. It’ll just be a little more annoying, as the app will crash during the install process.

The Developer Preview version of Android 11 has been available to developers for months, with a proper Android 11 beta release coming to all users in the following weeks.

Windows resumed a more-or-less normal pattern in May as Windows 7 shed share while Windows 10 added to its account, bucking the March-April trend where roles had flipped – perhaps because of businesses and governments urging people to work at home during the coronavirus pandemic.

According to analytics company Net Applications, Windows 10 grew by 1.8 percentage points to reach 57.8% of global OS share last month, representing 66.7% of all flavors of Windows. Both of those numbers were records for Windows 10, with the latter marking the first time that the operating system accounted for two-thirds of all existent Windows.

Windows 10’s percentage of only Windows PCs was significantly larger than the percentage of all personal computers because Windows does not power every system. In May, Windows was the OS of 86.7% of the world’s personal computers, a decrease of two-tenths of a percentage point and a new low for Microsoft’s operating system. Of the rest, all but a miniscule six-hundredths of a point ran macOS, Linux or Chrome OS, in decreasing order.

At the same time, Windows 7, whose long-term decline stalled in March and only half-heartedly resumed in April, picked up the downward pace, losing 1.3 percentage points to slip to 24.3% of all PCs. When expressed as a portion of just Windows, Windows 7 fell by the same amount, ending at 28% for May.

Windows 8/8.1 dipped to 3.5% of all operating systems and to 4.1% of only Windows, losing three-tenths of a point in both measurements.

A pandemic rebound for 10?

The restart of Windows share normalcy – Windows 7 down, 10 up – was difficult to explain in the face of the pandemic situation of May. Although some parts of the U.S. slowly retreated from the stay-home/work-at-home mandates of the months before, in most cases large businesses and organizations continued to stress remote work. It’s hard to see how large migrations from 7 to 10 could be conducted in that environment.

One possible explanation: Industry analysts at Gartner said, “[the] work from home trend saved [the] PC market from collapse [in the first five months of 2020]” because “COVID-19 forced businesses and schools to enable millions of people to work from home and increase spending on new notebooks, Chromebooks and tablets for those workers.”

Since new PCs ship with Windows 10, it’s possible, if Gartner is correct, that company-and-school efforts to equip workers, students and staff with remote-capable devices caused the uptick in 10 and a corresponding decline in 7.

Possible? Sure. Likely? Hard to say.

The changes of May also shifted the Computerworld forecast – based on the 12-month average – for Windows 7 and 10. The former should slide below 20% of just Windows not long after 2020’s end and a year from now, dip to around 15%. Meanwhile, Windows 10 will pass 70% (of Windows only) by the end of August, and within a year, reach 80%, perhaps 82%.

Elsewhere in Net Applications’ OS data, May saw another unexplained advance by Linux. The category, which lumps together all distributions, scratched out another three-tenths of a percentage point to hit 3.2%, its second highest ever. (The record holder was the suspicious 3.4% in August 2017, just months before Net Applications purged bogus traffic originating from criminals’ “bots” and rejiggered virtually everything.)

The declines of both Windows (two-tenths of a point) and macOS (one-tenth) fed the boost to Linux (three-tenths), showing the zero-sum nature of share; when one operating system slumps, another has to shinny up.

Of the overall Linux, Ubuntu again led the way, accounting for more than two-thirds of the three-tenths of a point increase.

It remained puzzling why Linux experienced a growth spurt and more specifically, why now? Frankly, Computerworld has no reasonable answer.

Net Applications calculates operating system share by detecting the agent strings of the browsers used to reach the websites of Net Applications’ clients. The firm tallies visitor sessions to measure operating system activity.

The upcoming new premium Pixel phone will not be a flagship device, several leaks said so far. And Pixel leaks are usually right since Google can never manage to keep a lid on anything.

Google will go for a processor from the mid-range spectrum for the Pixel 5, and that will simply not be enough. I’ve already explained how phones powered by the rumored Snapdragon 765 chip that will power the Pixel 5 will be no match for any of the 2020 flagship Androids, including the Galaxy S20 and the OnePlus 8. And forget about the iPhone 12 series that launches this year, or the iPhone 11, iPhone SE, and 2018 iPhones for that matter. In fact, the Pixel 5 might be about as powerful as the Pixel 4, which is hardly the kind of upgrade you’d expect from a next-gen phone. And the handset could still cost $699 at launch. That seems like a reasonable price to pay for a Pixel flagship, as it’s cheaper than the Pixel 4 entry price. But the iPhone 12 is already rumored to start at $649, and the direct successor of the 6.1-inch iPhone 11 will probably cost $699 or $749. Not to mention the OnePlus 8 has the exact same price.

But forget about the new iPhones and 2020 Android flagships. You know what will really crush the Pixel 5? The upcoming mid-range OnePlus phone.

Some have called it the OnePlus 8 Lite while others referred to it as the OnePlus Z. What really matters is that OnePlus is making an even cheaper phone. It won’t have the same high-end specs as the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro, and a Geekbench listing sheds more light on the sort of performance the phone will have to offer.

The benchmark test for the “OnePLus AC2003” tells us the phone features 12GB of RAM and a 1.80GHz processor from Qualcomm. The phone scores 612 and 1955 in single-core and multi-core tests, respectively. Those results are in line with the scores of the Snapdragon 765, according to recent listings for the new Motorola Edge that rocks the same chip. The “lito” motherboard name may be a reference to the 765 platform. Here’s a comparison between the 765 and the high-end Snapdragon 855 that powers the Pixel 4 phones:

From the looks of it, the cheap OnePlus Z phone will not be faster than the Pixel 4 series, not that it needs to be. But if the OnePlus Z and the Pixel 5 share the same Snapdragon 765 chips, then Google has a big problem. The cheap OnePlus Z will undoubtedly be less expensive than the Pixel 5. As I’ve explained, the Pixel 5 might start at $699, which is what OnePlus is charging for the OnePlus 8 right now.

The cheap OnePlus Z will likely have more RAM than Pixel 5, too. History showed that OnePlus did a terrific job of compensating for the lack of CPU performance on its phones with extra memory. That’s how OnePlus phones beat iPhones in real-life speed tests at one point. Meanwhile, the Pixel’s history shows the opposite. Not only did Google decide not to bulk up on RAM, but RAM management has been problematic for some of the previous Pixels.

Finally, the cheap OnePlus Z might get fast Android updates. They won’t be deployed as quickly as they will on the Pixel, but OnePlus has done an excellent job at supporting Android betas and releasing prompt Android updates.

With all that in mind, the only advantage the Pixel 5 might have over the 2020 OnePlus phones is in the camera department. But that might not be enough for Google to turn the Pixel 5 into a best-seller. If anything, phones like the OnePlus Z and iPhone SE might force Google to offer Pixel 5 price cuts a lot earlier than expected. A $499 Pixel 5 would sound a lot better, after all.

Earlier this year, Apple revealed a new iPad Pro model with trackpad support and a new LiDAR Scanner. Despite the chaos caused by the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic, this likely won’t be the last new iPad model Apple debuts in 2020.

In a note last month, TFI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claimed Apple would release a 10.8-inch iPad in the second half of this year, while a 9-inch iPad mini is slated to arrive in the first half of 2021.

Kuo didn’t specify the type of iPad that Apple would launch later this year, but based on a new report from Japanese supply chain blog Macotakara, it seems reasonable to assume that the new model will be the fourth-generation iPad Air. The report also suggested that a major change will be coming to the new iPad Air.

Supply chain sources tell Macotakara that the 4th-gen iPad Air will replace its Lightning connector with a USB-C port, as the iPad Pro did not long ago. This would mark the first instance of any iPads other than the Pro ditching Lightning in favor of USB-C. Meanwhile, the iPad mini will apparently stick with Lightning for at least one more generation. The report also says that the new iPad Air will be “developed based on” the 11-inch iPad Pro, but then fails to offer any additional details. It’s possible that this could be referring to the updated design of the tablet.

The next iPad Air has been the subject of several rumors and reports in recent months. In March, the fairly reliable Twitter account @L0vetodream claimed that the 4th-gen iPad Air would have a full-screen design without a notch, a Mini LED display, and Touch ID under the screen with no Face ID to speak of. The user’s track record is solid enough that it’s worth taking these tweets with more than a grain of salt.

Aside from the myriad iPad models currently in development, Apple is also preparing to launch four iPhone models this fall, all of which are expected to feature OLED displays and 5G support. Just days ago, we learned that the 6.1-inch iPhone models are likely to enter production ahead of the 5.4-inch and 6.7-inch models due to touch modules that need to be outsourced. The report also suggested that the iPhone 12 will launch in October, which might also give us some guidance as to when Apple will debut its new iPad Air model.

Of note, all of Apple’s iPhone models this year are expected to feature Lightning ports, but Kuo said last year that Apple may be working on a portless iPhone set to debut in 2021. Additional reports since then have reaffirmed Kuo’s leak, further suggesting that Apple could be phasing out its proprietary Lightning port.

On the surface, Android and privacy might not seem like the most natural of bedfellows. Google is known for its advertising business.

After all it’s how the company makes the lion’s share of its money and it can be tough to square the notion of data collection with the concept of carefully controlled information.

In actuality, though, Google gives you a good amount of authority over how and when it taps into your Android-associated info. (And even at its worst, the company never shares your data with anyone or sells it to third parties, despite some broad misconceptions to the contrary.) Ultimately, it just comes down to a matter of educating yourself about the possibilities and then determining what balance of privacy and function makes the most sense for you.

And you’d better believe the onus falls squarely on you to do that. By default, most Google privacy valves are opened up to the max — to the setting that allows the most feature-rich and ad-supporting experience and that uses your data in the most free-flowing manner possible. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it may or may not be what you want, particularly from a professional perspective. And navigating the layers of settings, not only with Google itself but also with the various third-party services that interact with your phone, is often easier said than done.

Well, consider this your guide to the labyrinth. I’ll take you through a series of 14 Android privacy adjustments, starting with the easiest and most broadly advisable tweaks and ending with higher-level tactics for the most privacy-minded users. Along the way I’ll explain what each setting accomplishes, how long it should take to implement, and how much inconvenience it’ll cause.

Make your way through the list and think thoroughly about each item’s pros and cons — and before you know it, you’ll have a deliberate Android privacy plan that’s less about defaults and more about your own preferences.

Section I: Easy Android privacy adjustments that are advisable for anyone

1. Uninstall used apps

• Time required: 2 minutes
• Inconvenience level: 0/10

This first Android privacy step is a no-brainer and something everyone should do periodically: Look through all of the installed apps on your phone and remove anything you haven’t used in the past month or two (so long as it isn’t required by your IT department, of course!). Unused apps not only take a toll on your device’s resources; they also have the potential to leave open doors to sensitive info that’d be better off closed.

So open up your app drawer and mull over every icon you see there. If you haven’t used an app in a while, press and hold its icon and select “Uninstall” — or, if you don’t see that as an option, select “App info” and then find the Uninstall button. On older Android versions, you might have to drag the app toward the top of the screen to access those same options; once you see them appear at the top of your display, drag the app up to that area and then release it.

With apps that came preinstalled on your phone out of the box, you may not always be able to uninstall but can often disable them — with the option to do so appearing either in that same long-press menu or within the aforementioned “App info” screen. That won’t get the app off your device entirely but will stop it from running and actively accessing any of your information.

2. Check on apps with access to your Google account

• Time required: 2 minutes
• Inconvenience level: 0/10

In addition to the phone-specific permissions, apps and services can request access to certain types of data within your Google account — things like your contacts, your Gmail messages, or even your Google Drive storage. Again, such access may be completely warranted and no cause for concern (and it’d be present only if you explicitly authorized it at some point), but once you’re no longer actively using the associated app, you don’t want to leave that pathway open.

Luckily, it’s an especially easy one to close — and another painless privacy step worth performing periodically. Just open up the Google account permissions page and look over everything in the list. For any items you no longer use or don’t recognize, click their title and then click the blue Remove Access button that appears alongside ’em.

JR Raphael/IDG

3. Revisit your Android app permissions

• Time required: 5 minutes
• Inconvenience level: 0/10

Now that we’ve taken care of apps you’re no longer using, let’s think about the ones you are still actively engaging with — because even those may have permissions you once granted but no longer require.

So open up the Apps & Notifications section of your system settings (or the Apps section, if you’re using a Samsung phone), tap the word “Advanced,” and then tap the line labeled “Permission Manager” (which will be tucked away within the three-dot menu icon in the upper-right corner of the screen on Samsung devices). Then, one by one, tap on each permission type in the list, look over the apps that have access to it, and consider whether each app’s access still strikes you as being necessary.

If you see something that seems questionable, tap the name of the app and then change its setting to “Deny.” There’s a chance the app will stop being able to perform one of its functions as a result, but at worst, it’ll prompt you to re-enable the permission at some future moment and you can then reconsider it.

An important footnote to this: If you’re using Android 10, pay extra attention to the “Location” section of permissions. As of that release, you can get more nuanced with that permission and allow an app to access to your location all the time or only when the app is actively in use, which gives you a lot more flexibility than the traditional all-or-nothing approach — but, critically, it’s up to you to make any changes to apps that were granted an all-the-time location permission before Android 10 arrived on your phone.

JR Raphael/IDG

4. Clamp down on your lock screen privacy

• Time required: 1 minute
• Inconvenience level: 1/10

By default, Android is typically set to show all of your notification content on your lock screen — and that means if someone else picks up your phone, they might see sensitive info without even having to put in a PIN, pattern, or passcode.

Change that by opening up the Security section of your phone’s settings, selecting “Lock screen,” and then switching its setting to either “Show sensitive content only when unlocked” or “Don’t show notifications at all,” depending on your comfort level. (On a Samsung phone, you’ll instead open the standalone Lock Screen section of the system settings and then tap “Notifications” to find a similar set of options.)

5. Opt out of Samsung’s data-sharing systems and consider avoiding its apps

• Time required: 5 minutes
• Inconvenience level: 1/10

If you have a Samsung phone, listen up: The company is probably selling your data — not just using it internally and privately but outright selling it to third parties (and without being even remotely up-front about what’s going on).

As I reported earlier this year, Samsung’s Galaxy phones have a disconcertingly intricate system for collecting different types of data from people who use its devices and then generating extra revenue by selling that data to other companies. And clearly, that’s not what you want to have happening.

So at the very least, opt of this obnoxiousness everywhere you can — most importantly within the Privacy Control section of the Samsung Pay app (look for the “Don’t sell data” option) and within the “Customization Service” options inside the Samsung Calendar app’s settings, the Samsung Internet browser’s settings, and the Samsung Contact app’s settings — and if you really want to be proactive about your privacy, just ditch Samsung’s default apps altogether.

You’ll get better all-around experiences by turning to other Android apps for those same purposes, anyhow, and you’ll have an easier time syncing or moving your data to non-Samsung devices now and in the future. And, y’know, you won’t be subjecting yourself to sneaky selling of your personal and/or company information with no discernible benefit to you.

Section II: Moderately advanced Android privacy modifications some people may want to perform

6. Turn off Google’s ad personalization system

• Time required: 2 minutes
• Inconvenience level: 2/10

Google makes its money by showing ads around the internet — that’s no secret. And it uses data about you to select ads that are, in theory, catered to your interests and more likely to be relevant to you. It never shares your data with advertisers, as mentioned at the top of this story, and all of the matching happens within Google and in a completely automated, machine-driven sense.

At the end of the day, you’re bound to see some of those ads no matter what you do — so there’s an argument that having the ads be catered to your interests at least creates the potential for them to be appealing as opposed to just random. But if you’d rather not have your data used for that purpose, you can turn the personalization system off.

Just go back into the Google section of your system settings, tap the Manage Your Google Account button, and then tap the Data & Personalization tab. Scroll down to the Ad Personalization box and tap the “Go to ad settings” link, then turn off the toggle on the screen that comes up and confirm you want to make the change.

JR Raphael/IDG

There’s just one more thing to check: See that profile picture in the upper-right corner of that same screen? Tap it and see what other accounts you have connected to your device. Each Google account has its own separate settings, so you’ll have to go through ’em one by one to make sure the ad personalization option is disabled everywhere.

7. Start using a VPN

• Time required: 5 minutes
• Inconvenience level: 2/10

If you’re using a company-connected phone, there’s a decent chance your employer is already providing you with a corporate VPN (virtual private network). But if not, it’s probably worth your while to set one up on your own.

A VPN, in short, keeps all the data you send and receive on your phone encrypted, private, and secure. Without it, someone could snoop on your connection and intercept sensitive info without your knowledge. (It’s an especially common problem when public Wi-Fi networks are involved.)

The Google Fi wireless service has its own built-in always-on VPN option, which is free, secure, and simple as can be to use. If you’re using any other carrier, you’ll need to turn to a third-party provider to get that same functionality. NordVPN and TunnelBear are two favorably reviewed, reputable options; NordVPN costs $12 a month if you pay as you go or $7 a month if you pay for a full year of service up front, while TunnelBear runs $10 a month as you go or $5 a month with a full-year payment.

Both are minimal hassle once set up on your phone and shouldn’t change much about the way you work, but they do require that ongoing payment — hence the inconvenience level score. And both are more advisable to use than most free or dirt-cheap VPN options you’ll encounter, as those frequently mishandle data and stick you with unreasonably low usage limits in order to make up for their low costs.

8. Add extra encryption onto especially sensitive files

• Time required: 3 minutes
• Inconvenience level: 3/10

Give sensitive files on your phone an extra layer of encryption with Solid Explorer, which costs $3 after a two-week trial. The app lets you encrypt any file so it can be accessed only after your personal password or biometric authentication has been applied. That does mean you’ll have to unlock the file every time you want to view or share it, which can be mildly annoying — but depending on what type of material you have on your device, it might be worth it for the added peace of mind.

JR Raphael/IDG

9. Rethink your browser setup

• Time required: 4 minutes
• Inconvenience level: 4/10

Google’s Chrome Android browser has all sorts of impressive features, but many of them inherently require some manner of privacy tradeoff in order to work. For instance, you can easily find any page you visited on any device with a super-fast search — but in order for that to happen, Google has to maintain a cross-device record of every site you visit.

Only you can decide whether the conveniences outweigh the privacy tradeoffs, but if you want to make your Android web browsing as private as possible, Mozilla’s new Firefox Android app is a great way to do it. (The current version of the app is still under development, so the beta version is the one you’ll want for now.) The app has a single-toggle option to let you automatically delete your entire browsing history every time you end a session, and it includes a variety of “enhanced tracking protection” features that make it incredibly easy to block scripts, cookies, and other forms of tracking around the web.

JR Raphael/IDG

If you’d rather stick with Chrome, there are some things you can do to crank up its privacy protection. Start in the Sync and Google Services section of the app’s settings, where you can scale down or even completely disable how different forms of your browsing data are shared with Google. Just remember that the more you disable, the more sacrifices you’ll make in terms of convenience — particularly when moving from your phone to your computer and maintaining a common collection of settings and history.

JR Raphael/IDG

Other places to look include the app’s Payment Methods section, where you can tell it not to save or store any of your payment information; the Privacy section, where you can prevent sites from seeing if you have payment info saved and also opt out of having Chrome preload pages for faster browsing; the Site Settings section, where you can prevent all sites from creating or interacting with cookies; and the Lite Mode section, where you can turn off the Android-specific data saver function that routes your browsing traffic through Google’s servers in order to compress pages and make them more efficient to load.