Category: 4. Technology

Republished on August 30 with new deletion update for Play Store apps.

Google has now confirmed the deletion of 77 malicious apps from Play Store. But this is just the tip of an alarming iceberg. In the last year, Google removed “nearly four million apps, equating to approximately 11,000 app removals per day.”

The data comes courtesy of Surfshark and has been confirmed by Google through its Play Store “transparency reports and supplemental data files.” Surfshark says more than half of the removals were due to “data protection and privacy policy violations.”

Last year, Google promised to clean up Play Store, a move which has led to the purge of millions of apps. In just the first few months of 2024, Play Store lost almost half its apps due to policy enforcement. And it turns out that in 2024 Google was just getting started.

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In addition to deleting apps, “Google reported terminating approximately 155,000 developer accounts in 2024.” And that was just on Play Store. The new mandate for developers to be verified is being extended to sideloading. That means only developers meeting Google’s criteria can release apps for certified Android phones.

Google advises that “if you are looking for an app that is no longer available on Google Play,” it may be because the developer has withdrawn it, but it’s more likely that it has violated Google’s policies and was “removed or suspended from Google Play.”

That’s where it gets interesting. Google warns that even “if an app is removed’ from Google Play “it will not be removed from your device.” This means “you can continue to use the app. However, you will not be able to update your app.”

If the app is deemed dangerous, it may trigger a Play Protect warning and a prompt to delete it. But most apps removed from Play Store will still be on your phone. If you see that an app cannot update because it’s no longer on Play Store, remove it. Even if it’s not dangerous, it cannot be updated and so any security fixes cannot be applied.

Similarly, you should purge your phone of apps you no longer use or need (or both). As Surfshark says, “the responsibility falls on users to practice safe downloading habits. This includes checking app permissions, reading reviews, and sticking to well-known developers.” If an app has been removed from the store, remove it from your phone.

“This is a staggering digital purge that goes unnoticed by the public,” Surfshark told me. “While it may create the illusion that every app we download is safe, the reality is a bit more complex.” Don’t leave these apps on your phone.

Meanwhile, removing apps is about to get easier, Per Android Authority, “Google is testing an ‘Uninstall’ button directly within individual app listings in Play Store. This button,” it says, “will make it easier to remotely uninstall apps from other devices.”

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Currently you can remotely install apps on other devices. But when it comes to uninstalling apps, it’s more painful than it should be. You need to visit “Manage apps & devices” and then select the list of apps installed on one of your devices. The use the trash icon as required to remove them ones by one.

The pre-release code suggests a dedicated Uninstall button on each app listing. But there’s a catch, Android Authority says. “If you want to remotely uninstall multiple apps, the currently existing method is still easier and straightforward.”

As for the new set of deletions, Zscaler’s ThreatLabz team says “the latest variant of Anatsa targets over 831 financial institutions worldwide.” It has “identified and reported 77 malicious apps from various malware families to Google, collectively accounting for over 19 million installs.” These are the latest apps Google has confirmed removed.

In World of Warcraft Patch 11.2, players can now bypass Delves with a hidden feature tied to the Reshii Wraps, drastically reducing the time needed to complete these instances. This secret function allows players to skip directly to the treasure room, cutting Delve runs down to just minutes.

The update, released on August 5, introduced exciting new content, including the K’aresh zone, the Manaforge Omega raid, and a feature called Phase Diving. As part of the campaign, players can obtain the Reshii Wraps, a powerful artifact cloak with various abilities unlocked through Ethereal Strands.

One of the cloak’s secret abilities, “Secrets of the Depths,” allows players to occasionally find Ethereal Portals within Delves. These portals can spawn randomly when interacting with a Flickergate, letting players skip all objectives and head straight to the treasure room. Once inside, players must complete a special task, such as defeating monsters or bosses in the Ethereal Routing Station. After completing the objective, they can exit and finish the Delve without further encounters.

What’s more, the Nemesis Chest at the end of the Delve will be automatically maxed out, even if players bypass all the special Nemesis elite mobs in the instance. While the Ethereal Portals don’t appear every time, they provide a thrilling surprise, allowing players to complete Delves in as little as three minutes. Fans have praised this feature, with some enjoying the secret objectives, like fighting Zekvir and the Underpin, Nemeses from earlier WoW seasons.

As World of Warcraft looks ahead to the Midnight expansion, it’s confirmed that 10 Delves will be available, along with a new companion and Nemesis. Whether future expansions will include more features like Ethereal Portals remains to be seen.

New evidence suggests DOOM developer id Software is working on an unannounced first-person shooter. Although the studio is currently hiring for a senior role in the project, the listing doesn’t necessarily point to the game being in its early stages.

id Software’s latest release, Doom: The Dark Ages, launched on May 15, 2025, but the studio has kept quiet about its next title. However, a recent job posting has given rise to speculation. The listing, discovered by Twitter user Timur222, seeks a lead gameplay features programmer for an “unannounced video game project.” It specifically asks for at least six years of experience in the video game industry or a proven track record in FPS games, strongly suggesting the mysterious project is another first-person shooter.

The listing also mentions the game will be developed using id Tech, the proprietary graphics engine that powers most of the studio’s games. The latest version, id Tech 8, was unveiled at the January 2025 Xbox Developer Direct. Given id Software’s track record for ambitious technical innovation, it’s possible the project could use a hybrid engine, as seen with Quake Champions in 2022, which combined id Tech with Saber3D.

While the job listing doesn’t provide definitive clues about the game’s current development stage, it’s clear the title will be an FPS, built on id Tech, and planned for multiple platforms. The listing specifies the need for console development experience, aligning with id Software’s history of cross-platform releases.

It’s worth noting that during the January 2024 Xbox Developer Direct, there was a potential teaser for Quake 6—a game which could be connected to this project, although the teaser was from sister company MachineGames, not id Software.

Bungie is ramping up testing for Marathon, and this time, players can walk away with a $500 reward just for taking part in the playtest.

The upcoming extraction shooter has had a bumpy road so far. After a lukewarm response during its Closed Alpha Test and a plagiarism controversy involving in-game artwork, Bungie made the tough call to delay Marathon‘s original September 2025 release date. At present, there’s no confirmed launch timeline.

Now, the studio is running an extended behind-the-scenes playtest—and offering a generous incentive to participants. According to an email obtained by TheGamePost, selected players will take part in a 30-day test starting Monday, September 8, and ending Tuesday, October 7. Participants are required to play for at least one hour daily—between 3–7 PM PST on weekdays and 2–8 PM PST on weekends.

In return, players will receive a $500 gift card of their choice upon completion of the full 30-day commitment. Partial participation will still earn a proportionate reward based on the number of days completed. At the minimum one-hour daily requirement, that works out to about $16.60 per hour—significantly higher than most paid playtest opportunities.

There’s a catch, though: this playtest is invite-only. However, anyone who’s previously participated in Marathon testing should check their inbox to see if they’ve received an invitation. Those hoping to join future tests can head over to Bungie’s official website, create an account, and opt in for future playtesting opportunities.

Paid community playtests aren’t unusual, but few offer a payout as high as $500. Bungie seems keen to gather meaningful feedback this time around—and they’re willing to pay for it.

Discovery of Planckian time limit offers new opportunities for quantum technologies.

A collaborative team of researchers in Japan has identified “heavy fermions”—electrons with greatly increased effective mass—that display quantum entanglement controlled by Planckian time, the fundamental unit of time in quantum mechanics. This breakthrough suggests new possibilities for using these effects in solid-state materials to advance the development of next-generation quantum computers.

Heavy fermions emerge when conduction electrons in a material interact strongly with localized magnetic electrons, causing their effective mass to grow dramatically. This behavior produces unusual properties, including unconventional superconductivity, making it a major focus in condensed matter physics. The compound examined in this study, Cerium-Rhodium-Tin (CeRhSn), is part of a family of heavy fermion systems characterized by a quasi-kagome lattice structure, which is notable for its geometrical frustration effects.

Experimental findings in CeRhSn

The research team examined the electronic properties of CeRhSn, a material recognized for showing non-Fermi liquid behavior at relatively high temperatures.

Detailed measurements of its reflectance spectra confirmed that this unusual behavior persists nearly up to room temperature, with heavy electron lifetimes approaching the Planckian limit. The spectral patterns, which can be represented by a single mathematical function, provide strong evidence that the heavy electrons in CeRhSn are quantum entangled.

Implications for quantum computing

Dr. Shin-ichi Kimura of The University of Osaka, who led the research, explains, “Our findings demonstrate that heavy fermions in this quantum critical state are indeed entangled, and this entanglement is controlled by the Planckian time. This direct observation is a significant step towards understanding the complex interplay between quantum entanglement and heavy fermion behavior.”

Quantum entanglement is a key resource for quantum computing, and the ability to control and manipulate it in solid-state materials like CeRhSn offers a potential pathway towards novel quantum computing architectures. The Planckian time limit observed in this study provides crucial information for designing such systems.

Further research into these entangled states could revolutionize quantum information processing and unlock new possibilities in quantum technologies. This discovery not only advances our understanding of strongly correlated electron systems but also paves the way for potential applications in next-generation quantum technologies.

Reference: “Anisotropic non-Fermi liquid and dynamical Planckian scaling of a quasi-kagome Kondo lattice system” by Shin-ichi Kimura, Muhammad Frassetia Lubis, Hiroshi Watanabe, Yasuyuki Shimura and Toshiro Takabatake, 5 August 2025, npj Quantum Materials.
DOI: 10.1038/s41535-025-00797-w

Funding: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

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