How to Stop Third-Party Apps From Reading Your Email

Whenever you click that easy “Sign in With Google” button on a company’s website, you’re granting the app or service access to some of your information. While in some cases that might just be access to your name and email address, for others you’re giving that company the ability to read your email as well.
Sure, that sign-on was super simple, but you’re giving something up in return.
The Wall Street Journal did a big story on this a few months ago, which surprised a lot of people. Now, it’s warning users again that there are still third-party apps reading your email. It’s a good reminder, and if you haven’t already, now’s a good time for you to check out what apps and services you’re granting access to your email to.
I know for me, there are a few apps I have intentionally given access to my email to in the past, specifically those that will let me know about price drops or help me get some cash from airlines if my flights get screwy. For instance, App in the Air has access to my Gmail, as does Streak, a service I use to track email.
To see what’s connected to your account, click here on a desktop computer.
From there, go to “Apps with account access” under the “Sign-in & security.” It’s the third option on the left sidebar if you’re having trouble finding it.
The next page will show you all the apps that have access to your Google account as well as all the sites you have saved passwords for using Google Smart Lock.
If you click on the app section, Google will list all the apps that have access to your account, along with what they have access to. For instance, I gave Pdffiller the ability to see my basic account and profile info, and my email address. If you see one you’d like to remove access for, click on it and a blue button will appear allowing you to remove it.
Unfortunately, if you want to use an app that needs info from your email, then you’re going to have to be comfortable giving that app access to everything or choose to give it nothing and not use it at all.
That said, it’s always a good idea to set a reminder to review what apps you’ve given access to your account to on a regular basis, both to remind yourself who might be reading and to revoke access to those apps you don’t want to use anymore.

Google Chrome gets a big redesign and new features for its 10th birthday

Chrome is turning ten, and it’s getting a makeover to celebrate. Google today announced a wide set of changes coming to the world’s most popular browser – some aesthetic, and some functional.
Most notably, the app now has a flatter, rounder design more in line with Google’s Material Design principles; these changes will be seen on both mobile and desktop. Website icons are now easier to see when you’ve overloaded a window with tabs, and menus and other design elements have been tweaked and simplified throughout various versions of the app.
In terms of utility, here are some of the most notable changes:

• Chrome revamped its autofill and password manager to be more accurate across different sites.
• Speaking of passwords, Chrome can now auto-generate a strong password that will be linked to your Google account. Think barebones LastPass, right in Chrome.
• The search bar – officially known as the Omnibox – can now show you more information without needing to open a new tab.
• You can now search for a specific tab within the Omnibox, useful for when you’re inundated with tabs too small to read.
• You’ll soon be able to search through your Google Drive right from the search bar.
• You can now create shortcuts for your favorite sites on the new tab page, as well as set a background image.

The update is rolling out to users today. In case you’re wondering about performance, Google says it continues to work on improving startup time, latency, memory use and more, although it doesn’t seem we’ll see changes there to this particular build.

Android P’s final beta preview is live

Good news for people who like near-final previews of mobile operating systems. Android just dropped Beta 4 for Android P, marking the last preview milestone before the full version launches. That means the still unnamed OS is just around the corner — promised to arrive at some point later this summer.
As all of the above implies, this build should be pretty close to final, including all of the systems you’ll see in the shipping version. The release is primarily focused on developers, looking to make sure their apps are up to date with Android P when it ships.
That includes a number of the new OS features, which will impact usage across apps, including multi-camera support, display cutout, enhanced notifications and ImageDecoder. More details on all of that can be found here.
Of course, the build is open to anyone who signs up for the Android Beta Program, so long as you also have access to a Pixel device to test it on — there’s a sign up form here. Those who have been testing out earlier builds should be receiving Beta 4 as an automatic update at some point in the near future.
No specific date has been given for the final build — just that it’s “coming soon.” Ditto for the name — though there’s no shortage of dessert foods starting with “P.” These days, I’m leaning toward Pop Rocks. But then, I’m kind of always leaning toward Pop Rocks. Hey, anyone know where a guy can get some Pop Rocks in 2018?