Exactly. At the end of the day, naming is not that relevant as long as it conveys the message of what the app does. It only gets confusing when you have a bunch of apps doing the same thing
Google isn’t interested in good UX, so they prioritize the next “new” internally to their staff. This is the end result. It’s why I switched from Android (and I was pretty huge fanboy in my teens haha) to iOS. Apples got its own issues but the user experience end to end is leagues ahead. Phones don’t innovate anymore so in the end I just want a solid pocket computer with a great camera.
They just transitioned to Google Wallet, which lacks some features, notably peer-to-peer transactions. The API for virtual banking cards that most banking apps use instead of including their own NFC driver, also called “Google Pay”, will keep working. At least that’s how I understand it.
Google often feels like a disorganized company with constantly shifting priorities, and a big reason behind that is the lack of top-down initiatives from the CEO. That means the real driving force behind most projects at Google are mid-level executives who show up with grand plans and then leave—either in disgrace or triumph—when those initial plans run their course.
Makes a lot of sense. There doesn’t seem to be a unifying strategy behind anything google does. I also think theres a vicious circle going on here: google has a loyalty problem, which could be solved by long term thinking, usually done by loyal employees, but employees don’t stick around long enough.
It isn’t a problem with long term employees. The problem is that promotion at Google typically relies on developing new products. Long term employees aren’t incentivized to improve existing products.
I think it was a mistake for Google to jump into AI last minute. I think they should of offered separate AI products and let growth happen naturally. Meanwhile Microsoft and OpenAI will shoot themselves in the foot.
Being a normal non AI focused company would of been a good look. They could simply have some basic AI tools that are actually useful.
I never use these apps, I just don’t trust them at all. In a world of cyber security worries, we put all of our financial info on an app and a phone and expect everything to be safe. I’m just old school. Safety over convenience… as I am In an uber. Lol
Phone payments are magnitudes more secure than card payments as they basically are equivalent to using a brand new card and throwing it away for each transaction (in simplified terms)
It’s still safer. They can steal your wallet and pay for anything trivially. If they steal your phone, they have to be able to unlock it to pay with it.
Anything up to a certain amount. All the banks here have configurable limits for contactless payments (both in number of payments per day and in total amount). If you go over the limit they ask you to confirm in a way that requires the phone anyway. You can also block the cards remotely.
I’d say it’s a decent mix of convenience and security, even if you use cards.
And sometimes you have to resort to using cards because some banks have been migrating from using the NFC directly to using Google Pay and I for one don’t relish giving Google insight into my shopping.
If you go over the limit they ask you to confirm in a way that requires the phone anyway
Oh interesting. Where I am if you go over the limit (usually $100), you just have to input your PIN. But $100 is enough to get up to some serious trouble, considering it’s a per-purchase limit.
And I’ve both never heard of banks using the NFC directly (as opposed to using Google, Apple, Garmin etc. Pay), and wouldn’t trust them in the slightest with it even if they did offer it, because they’re not exactly known for great security. (And I’ll take security over privacy any day.)
That’s what the chip on the card does too. It’s an embedded computer that generates one time codes just like the phone.
The main difference is that the phone typically has an extra security measure, like requiring the screen to be on to pay (but you can get a mesh wallet which prevents tap from working); or the phone needs to be unlocked, which is actually useful.
You should look up info about phone payments and temp card numbers in order to reduce some of your fears. Also, check out what is actually stored in epay apps when there’s a connection through a provider, like a bank integration or an integration to another epay partner.
PCI security is about as high as you’d expect from companies that tell consumers they won’t lose their own money to fraud. When it’s the bank’s money, you’d better believe they care.
There are far easier ways to get someone’s money and this ain’t it.
Here, I hope Google takes a lesson from their wearable platform. Widgets on WearOS are designed to be extremely battery efficient namely by taking away responsibility from the applications. Instead, apps more declaratively hand over display information and leave the real work to the OS, its position much better suited to managing the overall system characteristics.
With that said, widgets on Wear aren’t entirely a success story. Many of them don’t work properly. But, I think there’s still a lesson there.
Maybe we should start submitting DMCA takedown requests for Google Chrome because it contains that filthy PirateBay and Library Genesis. Such apps should be illegal.
Additionally, NASA is seeking to foster a commercial economy in low-Earth orbit. To that end, it is working with several private companies to develop commercial space stations that would be able to house NASA astronauts, as well as those from other countries and private citizens, by or before 2030. By setting an end date for the station’s lifetime and sticking with it, NASA can help those private companies raise money from investors.
Emphasis mine.
I propose we bring back the age old traditions of liberated piracy, just, in space. That is all.
arstechnica.com
Top