Security firm SourceDNA has revealed a number of iOS apps that are violating Apple’s App Store policy that use private APIs to obtain a user’s private data. The apps all had one thing in common: They used the Youmi advertising SDK from China. “We found 256 apps (est. total of 1 million downloads) that have … continue reading
Think of the words “simplicity, performance and usability.” They were key components of Leaflet, an open-source JavaScript library for mobile-friendly interactive maps. Leaflet was developed by Vladimir Agafonkin of MapBox, which is a building-block application that makes it easy to integrate location into mobile applications. The library weighs about 33KB of gzipped JavaScript code, and … continue reading
The Web is ever changing. What was once a place where documents and information could be accessed has turned into a place where users can communicate verbally, visually and virtually, where users can play interactive games, and where users can stream music, movies and television shows. To keep up with these advanced features and capabilities, … continue reading
Facebook is letting Android developers take advantage of its JavaScript framework for native development. The company has announced it is releasing React Native for Android. “React Native enables you to build world-class application experiences on native platforms using a consistent developer experience based on JavaScript and React,” the company wrote on its GitHub page. “The … continue reading
Google wants to make mobile sites more mobile friendly by removing distracting app install interstitials. According to the company, some interstitials hide a majority of the site’s content, and users get frustrated when they come across them. To address this, Google is updating its Mobile-Friendly Test to indicate which sites should avoid app install interstitials. … continue reading
You probably know that to be highly productive you should master your programming language(s), know common data structures and patterns, have a working knowledge of algorithmic analysis, and so forth. But there is more—much more—to being employable, a developer who doesn’t spend any time on the bench, worrying about their future. This may seem like … continue reading
Learn how to code, for free, through real-world experiences, and with access to a community of programmers. That is the goal of this week’s featured GitHub Project: Free Code Camp. According to a recent survey by Stack Overflow, almost half of developers are self-taught. Being able to teach yourself how to write code is a … continue reading
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) wants to make it easier for those who are deaf or hard of hearing to communicate. The organization recently announced it will develop an open-source video platform for users to communicate with businesses and government agencies using American Sign Language. The platform will be available for mobile and desktop operating … continue reading
GitHub is making the jump from Web-based platform to desktop collaboration. This week’s GitHub Project of the Week is not a project at all, but the next natural extension of GitHub’s open-source platform itself. The repository-hosting service has become the social collaboration hub for open-source development, and with the announcement of GitHub Desktop, it looks … continue reading
Researchers from Georgia Tech have discovered an emerging class of C++ bugs, and Facebook has awarded them US$100,000 for their efforts. The bugs are rooted in a new method for identifying “bad casting” vulnerabilities in C++ programs casted dynamically or statically at runtime. The researchers, who presented their findings at the USENIX Security ’15 conference, … continue reading
Microsoft has released an early look at its open-source Windows 10 Bridge for iOS. Previously known as “Project Islandwood,” the bridge allows iOS developers to build and run apps on Windows. The version currently available to the open-source community is a work in progress, and Microsoft is encouraging feedback and code contributions before the final … continue reading
Version 3.0 of the open-source io.js fork of the Node.js JavaScript V8 runtime has been released. Now under the auspices of the Node.js Foundation, io.js 3.0 implements changes in buffers for more performant arrays; adds PPC build support and a new dgram error callback; and has changes to freelist, http, the node module, REPL, TLS … continue reading
