animation Archives

AppWizard

July 10, 2025

Warner’s ‘A Minecraft Movie’ Remains Atop Weekly U.K. Home Entertainment Sales Chart Through July 9

The Minecraft Movie is set to bring the block-building universe to life with a fresh narrative focused on adventure, creativity, and friendship. It will explore the vast possibilities of the Minecraft world, featuring elements like crafting, exploration, and survival while introducing new characters and challenges. The film has a star-studded cast and a visionary director, aiming to create a visually stunning experience that resonates with fans. The production team is engaging with the gaming community for input and feedback, building anticipation for the film's release.

AppWizard

July 9, 2025

TapTrap Android Exploit Allows Malicious Apps to Bypass Permissions

A new Android vulnerability named TapTrap allows malicious applications to bypass the operating system's permission system without requiring special permissions. It exploits activity transition animations to mislead users into granting sensitive permissions or executing harmful actions. Researchers from TU Wien analyzed 99,705 applications on the Google Play Store and found that 76.3% are susceptible to this attack. TapTrap uses low-opacity animations (approximately 0.01 alpha) to make sensitive permission dialogs nearly invisible while still registering touch events. The attack can last up to six seconds and can lead to unauthorized access to critical functionalities like the camera and microphone, and even device administrator privileges. TapTrap bypasses existing defenses against tapjacking in Android, affecting popular web browsers as well. A user study showed that all participants failed to detect at least one variant of the attack. As of June 2025, Android 15 remains vulnerable, with no timeline for a comprehensive fix. The vulnerability has been assigned two CVEs, and researchers disclosed their findings to Google in October 2024. They propose solutions to mitigate the risks, including blocking touch events during low-opacity animations and setting an opacity threshold of 0.2.

AppWizard

July 9, 2025

Researchers Warn: This Android Animation Glitch Lets Apps Spy, Snap, and Steal… Undetected

A technique for Android devices called TapTrap allows malicious applications to intercept user taps without requiring special permissions. It uses transparent screen transitions to mislead users into triggering hidden actions. Devices running Android versions 15 and 16 are particularly vulnerable. TapTrap operates by overlaying a nearly transparent screen on top of another application, making it appear as if users are interacting with one app while their taps are registered by the hidden screen. A study of around 100,000 Android applications revealed that approximately 76 percent contained screens vulnerable to TapTrap. The researchers successfully executed the attack on a Google Pixel 8a running Android 16. Google has acknowledged the issue and plans to include a fix in a future software update, but no specific timeline has been provided. Users can enhance their security by disabling animations in their system settings.

AppWizard

July 4, 2025

Minecraft Update 3.15 Slots in Bedrock 1.21.93

Mojang has released a new patch for Minecraft, identified as update 3.15/1.023.000 (Bedrock version 1.21.93), which addresses various issues from the Chase the Skies update. Key features include: - Bug fixes for world template packs, graphical enhancements, and mob behaviors. - Resolved an issue causing packs in world templates to vanish (MCPE-222906). - Introduced a new music disc titled “Lava Chicken” obtainable by defeating a baby Zombie riding a Chicken. - Split-screen players on PlayStation and Switch can now access player data from version 1.21.80 and earlier (MCPE-222048). - Reduced emissive intensity of certain light sources in Vibrant Visuals (MCPE-222020). - Fixed animation issues related to parent_setup. - Glowing text on Signs no longer appears excessively bright in Vibrant Visuals. - Addressed performance issues with a Happy Ghast when leashed (MCPE-222147). - Air friction is now applied only to Boats when leashed (MCPE-222298), allowing them to maintain momentum off ledges. - Fixed a camera movement issue on touch devices (MCPE-220353). - Introduced a new API condition passengerofentity for developers to check vehicle entity types and a condition is_baby to check if the entity dropping loot is a baby.

AppWizard

July 4, 2025

Warner’s ‘A Minecraft Movie’ Remains Atop Weekly U.K. Home Entertainment Sales Chart Through July 2

Minecraft is set to be adapted into a cinematic film, with a global community of over 200 million players. The film will explore the game's lore and feature themes of friendship, resilience, and imagination. A director known for animation and a mix of seasoned and new actors are involved in the project. The film's development may influence future adaptations of other video games. Fans are excitedly speculating about plot details and visual style as the release date approaches.

AppWizard

July 3, 2025

One UI 8 will let any app show a Live Notification in Samsung’s Now Bar

Samsung is enhancing its One UI 8 experience by integrating the Live Notifications feature with Android 16's "Live Updates" API, allowing broader third-party app support for live notifications. This upgrade will enable real-time updates from various compatible applications, moving beyond the previous limitation of primarily supporting Samsung's own apps. The feature was initially introduced with One UI 7 and is set to expand significantly in One UI 8. The One UI 8 beta has shown a developer option for "Live notifications for all apps," which allows Live Updates to appear in the status bar and Now Bar. Currently, no public apps support Live Updates, and testing requires Google's sample app. It is expected that users will not need to toggle a developer option for the feature in the final release of One UI 8.

AppWizard

July 3, 2025

Ready or Not Review-Bombed on Steam as PC Players Claim Shooter Was ‘Censored’ to Satisfy Console Makers

Ready or Not, a tactical first-person shooter by VOID Interactive, is experiencing backlash on Steam due to recent changes made for its console release. VOID stated that modifications to the game's levels of gore, nudity, violence, and depictions of child mistreatment were necessary to meet console manufacturers' requirements. Players can no longer dismember defeated enemies, instances of torture and nudity have been reduced, and a child character now appears "unconscious/sleeping" instead of in a violent animation. Despite the developers claiming these changes are minor, community response has been negative, with some players accusing the studio of censorship and calling for a boycott. The game's overall user review rating remains 'very positive,' but recent reviews have shifted to 'mixed.' Ready or Not previously faced challenges, including a temporary removal from Steam in 2022 due to a trademark dispute and a controversial announcement about a school shooting level.

AppWizard

July 2, 2025

Despite review bombing, ‘censored’ shooter becomes a Steam top seller

Developer VOID Interactive is set to launch Ready or Not on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X on July 15. The game is undergoing updates to improve performance on consoles, including a transition from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5, which enhances animation and overall performance. The updates include modifications to animations for certification, a rework of the animation graph, and adjustments to the depiction of violence, such as limiting ongoing gore and toning down instances of torture and nudity to meet console standards. Despite these changes, the PC player community has reacted negatively, feeling that the updates betray the game's original vision. The game currently ranks 15th on the global top sellers list and has seen a doubling of its active player count following the announcement of the updates. The ongoing summer sale, offering a 50% discount, has contributed to its popularity.

AppWizard

July 2, 2025

Steam faces a stampede: horse girl game Umamusume: Pretty Derby is “actual cinema,” and a massive hit on PC with 5,000 overwhelmingly positive reviews after a week

Umamusume: Pretty Derby is a Japanese mobile game featuring characters known as horse girls, who embody the spirit of horses. The game has received over 5,000 user reviews on Steam, with a 95% positive rating since its launch on June 24. It is a free-to-play game where players collect and interact with their Umamusume, enhance their abilities, and watch them race. The game combines playful elements with serious competitive aspects, leading to emotional connections between players and their characters. Players experience both the excitement of victory and the disappointment of defeat, often reflecting on the trust and bond with their horse girls. The game has also inspired a dedicated fanbase, with players engaging deeply in its storylines and character development. Additionally, an anime adaptation exists for those interested in the racing theme without the gacha mechanics.

AppWizard

June 30, 2025

Ready or Not adjusts in-game violence and nudity on PC to secure PS5 and Xbox release

Void Interactive has announced modifications to the console version of its shooter, Ready or Not, in response to requirements from first-party partners, affecting elements like dismemberment, gore, nudity, and violence. Some changes may also apply to the PC version. The development team successfully completed the certification process for the console launch on their first attempt, achieving PEGI 18, USK 18, and ESRB M ratings. They explained that maintaining multiple versions with different assets increases the potential for bugs and affects crossplay functionality. Player-induced dismemberment is still present but restricted, with no dismemberment allowed after an enemy is defeated. Character art depicting torture has been toned down, and certain characters are more covered. The portrayal of children has been adjusted for certification standards, including changing an animation to show a child character as unconscious rather than convulsing. Changes to the console version are subtle, primarily involving evidence and nudity, with some in-game references to illicit activities involving children censored only in the console version.