Software : Google axes 60K rubbish apps in massive Google Play purge

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Google axes 60K rubbish apps in massive Google Play purge Posted: Google hit a record high for removing rubbish apps from the Google Play store in February, deleting around 60,000 spam, low quality, or otherwise crap apps. That marks the biggest purge Google's digital app store has ever seen, according to TechCrunch. Compared to Apple's iOS app store, the Google Play marketplace has always been a bit of a wasteland, without the strict vetting system that Apple has in place. The cream Android apps have always tended to rise to the top of Google Play, but there was always that seedy underbelly of sour milk. Not anymore? TechCrunch's report came yesterday by way of "a company in the mobile app industry which has insight into changes like this." TechCrunch told TechRadar that the company requested anonymity. The site also reported that Google's automated algorithms to detect spam apps have been steadily improving. The Google Play Android app store is great for developers who don't want to bother with Apple's strict guidelines and sometimes bothersome approval process, but that same system also opens the door for less reputable app makers to flood the space with rotten creations. The recent purge of garbage Android apps could be simply due to Google getting better at detecting them, or it could be part of a concentrated effort on Google's part to spruce the place up. In fact, the change in policy could have something to do with rumors of the Google Play 4.0 redesign arriving alongside Android 5.0: Key Lime Pie, possibly by summer. Either way, it seems the Google Play marketplace is only getting better.

We've lost visual: Apple confirms FaceTime and iMessage outages Posted: UPDATE: Service was resumed at 1:20am UK Time (8:20pm EDT) on Tuesday night / Wednesday morning. Original story continues below... Users of Apple's iMessage and FaceTime applications for iOS and Mac OS X are experiencing downtime, the company has confirmed. Following a host of complaints from users on social media, the company has updated its System Status website to confirm an issue with both apps, which it said is only affecting "some users" A number of iMessage users are unable to send messages at all, while iPhone users have claimed that the usual Apple-to-Apple free messaging service is defaulting to regular text messages over cellular networks. Some FaceTime users are reporting that they're currently unable to make calls, rendering the service useless. No resolution yet According to the company, which has not offered a reason for the outage, the issues began shortly around 8 p.m. GMT time on Tuesday (3 p.m. EDT). At the time of writing, the issue has yet to be resolved. TechRadar has asked Apple for an update and will provide more details when a response is forthcoming.

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