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      Use ‘Nearby Share’ to Send Android Apps to Your Friends

      pubsub.dcentralisedmedia.com / LifehackerAustralia · Thursday, 18 February, 2021 - 20:00 · 2 minutes

    As an Android user, how do you share apps with other people? You probably tell them, “Hey, I awesome downloaded [cool app name]. You should play/use it too.” But Google has introduced a new way to share apps from Google Play, and it’ll be pretty useful when (if?) we’re ever able to hang out in person again.

    Once you can access the feature, which is currently rolling out various permutations of devices running the 24.0 version (or newer) of the Google Play Store app, you’ll be able to send some of the apps on your phone directly to friends using your device’s Nearby Share feature. However, there’s a caveat; as Android Authority reports, not all apps are eligible for the sharing, thought that might change at some point.

    To check if you have this capability yet, make sure you’ve updated your Android’s operating system and all of its apps to the latest versions available (via Settings > System > Advanced > System Update , at least on my Pixel). Check your version of the Google Play Store app by visiting Settings > Apps & notifications > See all [x] apps > Google Play Store > Advanced , and scrolling down a bit until you see the app’s version number. (Again, those are instructions for my Pixel, so the exact path might vary for your specific Android.)

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    Next, launch Google Play, tap on the three-line hamburger icon in the upper-left corner, and select My apps & games . You should now see a new tab at the top: Share . Tap it, and you’ll see this prompt:

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    Once you’ve given the app the proper permissions, you’ll be able to use the Send button to shoot apps to nearby phones that have tapped on the Receive button and are awaiting transmission. Neither phone needs an internet connection for this to work, as Nearby Share works via a bunch of different methods (“Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy, WebRTC, or peer-to-peer WiFi “) to ship .APKs between the two devices.

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    Once you’ve picked a device to send apps to — or once someone has elected to send one to you — you’ll get a prompt with a pairing code. All you have to do is make sure the four-digit codes match on the sending and receiving devices. Odds are they will, unless someone else near you is trying to do the exact same thing at the exact same time.

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    The post Use ‘Nearby Share’ to Send Android Apps to Your Friends appeared first on Lifehacker Australia .

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      How to Fix Twitter’s Recent Dark Mode Changes

      pubsub.dcentralisedmedia.com / LifehackerAustralia · Thursday, 4 February, 2021 - 22:15 · 1 minute

    Many Twitter found their display settings suddenly changed without warning today.

    For some — including me — the app swapped from the “Dim” dark mode to the fully-black “Lights Out” theme, while others are now seeing the default Light mode rather than either dark mode. Some users were unable to change their Twitter display settings back to a dark theme if their OS was set to light mode.

    Good news is, if you’re unhappy with Twitter’s new look, there’s an easy explanation and an even easier fix.

    Twitter recently changed its website and mobile app to automatically match your device’s theme settings, and “Lights Out” is now the app’s default dark theme. So if your computer or smartphone has dark mode on all the time, Twitter now shows up with the “Lights out” theme unless you manually change it to “Dim.”

    This is also why Twitter switched to light mode instead of dark mode in some instances — the app is simply responding to the device’s system-level settings. However, Twitter told The Verge the forced light mode was an unintended bug. The bug is reportedly fixed now, so users can switch back to Dim or Lights Out in the app’s settings without having to change their device’s OS theme.

    How to restore Twitter’s dark mode settings

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    On desktop (Windows, Mac):

    1. From any Twitter page, click “More” from the sidebar to open the overflow menu.
    2. Select “Display ” to open the display settings. (These options are also found under Settings and Privacy > Accessibility, Display and Languages > Display ).
    3. Select your desired theme under the “Background” section. The new theme will appear automatically.

    On mobile (Android, iOS):

    1. Open the Twitter app then tap your profile picture to open the overflow mneu.
    2. Go to Settings and privacy > Display and sound .
    3. Make sure the “Dark mode” slider toggled on.
    4. Select your preferred dark mode appearance.

    (Note: This menu is only available on the standard Twitter mobile app. Twitter Lite doesn’t include display options.)

    The post How to Fix Twitter’s Recent Dark Mode Changes appeared first on Lifehacker Australia .