Samsung may have delayed the Galaxy A55 launch by a month

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Samsung may have delayed the Galaxy A55 launch by a month
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Yesterday, we exclusively revealed the official renders of the Galaxy A55, Samsung’s next premium mid-range smartphone. We shared renders of the phone in three different colors, giving you a detailed look at its design from various angles. A new report has now shed some light on its launch date. If true, the device will arrive about a month later than expected.

Samsung Galaxy A55 to launch later than expected

According to SamMobile, Samsung plans to unveil the Galaxy A55 sometime in early Q2 2024. While we don’t have a precise date, we know that the second quarter of the year begins in April. So, at the earliest, the phone will debut in April. If the report is accurate, this would mean a delay of about a month compared to the Galaxy A54 launch. The 2023 model debuted in mid-March.

Samsung usually launches its latest Galaxy A5x model alongside the latest Galaxy A3x. We expect it to keep the trend going this year. In other words, the Galaxy A35 may also be affected by this delay. We leaked its exclusive official renders in the same three colors earlier today. It will be slightly less premium than the Galaxy A55, packing modest specs in some areas.

Most notably, it appears to miss out on the metallic upgrade the premium model is getting. As you can see in the renders we leaked exclusively, the Galaxy A55 has antenna lines on its frame. Those lines are a confirmation of a metallic frame, presumably made of aluminum. The Galaxy A35 doesn’t have antenna lines. Last year, Samsung used a plastic frame on the Galaxy A54 and Galaxy A34.

Both phones might feature a 50MP camera

While we don’t have detailed specs, leaks have revealed a few things about the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35. The latter is said to get a 50MP primary rear camera, which it could share with the former. The two devices may also pack identical batteries with the same charging speed—5,000mAh and 25W, unchanged from last year. Samsung’s Galaxy S24 flagship also charges at just 25W, so there’s little chance the mid-range models will get faster charging.

The build quality won’t be the only difference between the two, though. The Galaxy A35 should be slightly bigger. We also expect Samsung to equip them with different chipsets. The Galaxy A55 may get its in-house Exynos 1480 processor, a new 4nm solution clocked at up to 2.75GHz. It features AMD’s RDNA2-based Xclipse 530 GPU co-developed with Samsung. We should see more leaks about these phones in the coming months.


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US Galaxy A52 5G grabs Samsung’s Android 14 update

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US Galaxy A52 5G grabs Samsung’s Android 14 update
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Samsung Galaxy A52 5G users in the US, rejoice. The company has just sent a New Year’s gift your way. Your phone is getting the Android 14 update with One UI 6.0 on top. The December 2023 security patch is also part of the big update, which started rolling out recently. International versions of the phone have already picked up One UI 6.0.

Galaxy A52 5G gets Android 14 in the US

As of this writing, the Android 14-based One UI 6.0 update appears to be limited to carrier-locked variants of the Galaxy A52 5G in the US. The update is rolling out to users on a handful of carrier networks with the firmware build number A526USQUCFWL1. It will reach more users nationwide over the next few days, including those with a factory-unlocked unit.

The build number may vary but the content of the update will remain the same. Samsung has already published the full changelog on its official update tracker for the US version of the Galaxy A52 5G. One UI 6.0 brings a new button layout for the Quick Settings panel, enhancements to the notification shade, more customization options for the lockscreen, and simplified app icon labels.

Additionally, Samsung has improved system animations and enhanced multitasking with new gestures. The weather widget is now more dynamic while there are functional improvements for Samsung Keyboard. One UI 6.0 also brings new camera features, more powerful editing tools, an improved video player, improved Bixby Text Call, and more changes to the Galaxy A52 5G.

On top of this, the latest update for the 2021 premium mid-range phone from Samsung contains over 60 security fixes. The December security patch addressed seven critical Android OS vulnerabilities and dozens of high-severity issues, including a few exclusive to Samsung devices. If you haven’t already received the update, you can go to Settings > Software update > Download and install to check for it.

Your aging Samsung phone won’t get Android 15

Launched in March 2021, the Galaxy A52 5G will soon be three years old. While it might still be fairly capable, the device is approaching the end of its life. It will no longer receive major Android OS updates. Debuting with Android 11, Android 14 is the last update for the phone.

Security updates will come until around March 2025. If you plan to upgrade to a new model, Samsung has the Galaxy A55 coming up in a few months. We recently exclusively revealed its official renders. We will let you know when we have more information about it.


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Microsoft calls Edge an “AI Browser” (because AI makes everything better, apparently)

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Microsoft calls Edge an “AI Browser” (because AI makes everything better, apparently)
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Ever since OpenAI unveiled ChatGPT, Microsoft has entered a very close and expensive relationship with the company. Ever since then, Microsoft has been going all in on AI to the point where it gets to be a bit much. After injecting its Edge browser with so much AI that it’s almost a completely different program, Microsoft is now calling the Edge browser an AI browser.

Right now, AI is the main buzzword and has been for well over a year. There are thousands if not over a million apps and services that claim to bring some sort of AI prowess to make your life better. Also, existing companies are now adding AI tools to their tool belt. X (formerly Twitter), Facebook Messenger, and Snapchat all have their own AI chatbots for example.

In the case of Microsoft, the company has been doing a ton of work to make the Edge browser proper competition for Google Chrome and the Bing search engine proper competition for Google. Currently, Google owns the search engine and browser markets.

Microsoft calls Edge an AI browser

Ever since Microsoft basically adopted OpenAI as its child, the Edge browser has been getting a gigantic AI makeover for better or worse. Well, a lot of the AI made it into the mobile version of the browser. And, it looks like Microsoft really wants you to know that you’ll be getting a powerful AI experience because it says so in the title. Looking at the title on the Google Play Store, we see that it’s called Microsoft Edge: AI browser.

This is basically the company trying to capitalize on the fact that AI is a big buzzword. You can’t go anywhere online without seeing some new AI service that utilizes OpenAI’s GPT or other AI models to perform tasks. In the case of Microsoft, the company has been trying to do everything it could to make Edge a powerful and compelling AI experience.

With this new title, Microsoft didn’t change anything in Edge. At this point, it just wants you to know that it heavily utilizes AI technology. Whether or not this will drive more people to use it in lieu of Google Chrome is yet to be seen


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Investment fraud a serious money maker for criminals

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Investment fraud a serious money maker for criminals
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Europols’s spotlight report ‘Online fraud schemes: a web of deceit’, looks into online fraud schemes—a major crime threat in the EU and beyond—and one of the report’s primary themes is investment fraud.

But first I want to share some more remarkable conclusions from the report:

  • Charity scams that prey on concern about international conflicts and natural disasters are becoming more prevalent.
  • Fraudsters are evolving their techniques and increasingly re-target fraud victims.
  • The social engineering techniques used by fraudsters are growing in complexity.
  • Logical attacks on ATMs still occur in the EU, with criminal networks testing ways to exploit new vulnerabilities.
  • It also notes the increasing use of “shimming” attacks where an attacker intercepts communication between a card and card reader’s chip interface, and then relays it to another device.

Investment fraud and business e-mail compromise (BEC) fraud remain the most prolific online fraud schemes. Criminal networks involved in these schemes pose a high threat, given their level of organization and resilience. This conclusion matches that of the 2022 Internet Crime Report produced by the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), which attributed almost $84 million dollars to BEC and over $75 million to investment fraud.

Europol found that criminal networks involved on investment fraud show great levels of adaptability by constantly refining and improving their methods and leveraging new investment products that are in high demand.

Preying on one of the most basic human flaws, investment scams and other get-rich-quick schemes are making up an ever larger portion of the online scammers’ cake. And the scammers are very much aware that a large amount of money can be made, and they are more than willing to invest in the tools that make their fraud look more trustworthy.

Investment fraudsters look for victims on social media platforms. But they also use e-mail, advertisements on websites, and instant messaging to trigger a potential victim’s interest. When a victim starts to ask questions, the criminals come up with reasons why funds can’t be withdrawn, such as fees or state taxes. To top things off, they will tell the victim they need more money in order to release their funds.

Criminal networks involved in investment fraud make extensive use of call centers. These call centers operate in different languages and the operators are not necessarily aware of the criminal activities behind the work they do.

One of the preferred tactics of investment fraud is the pyramid scheme, where victims are encouraged to recruit more participants. But another method resembles that of romance scams where the criminal builds a relationship with the victim.

Popular investment opportunities offered by the criminals include stocks, cryptocurrencies, and pension funds. The most reported investment fraud products in the EU are cryptocurrencies. The IC3 report mentions for example:

“Cryptocurrency support impersonators: Increasingly, crypto owners are falling victim to scammers impersonating support or security from cryptocurrency exchanges. Owners are alerted of an issue with their crypto wallet and are convinced to either give access to their crypto wallet or transfer the contents of their wallet to another wallet to “safeguard” the contents.”

To re-target victims the criminals pose as lawyers or members of law enforcement claiming they can help victims to get the lost money back.

Recognizing investment scams

We are by no means financial experts, but we have seen too many good people lose money on Ponzi schemes, rug-pulls, and fake Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), so we feel it is our job to keep you safe, and warn against these types of online investment frauds.

We realize that it is hard to tell investment scams apart from some of the more legitimate offers that are thrown at us in commercials every day. But we do want to hand you a few easy-to-follow rules to keep your money in your own hands:

  • Treat calls, texts, mails, and other advice out of the blue with extreme caution.
  • Don’t judge a book by its cover. Investment scams can often afford to look good.
  • Make sure to read the fine print. Understand what you are getting into.
  • If it sounds too good to be true, it usually isn’t true.
  • Very high returns usually come with extremely high risks. Your money may sometimes even be better off in a casino.
  • When you are urged to act now, remember that while some legitimate opportunities want you to hurry, scammers always want you to hurry.
  • Don’t get turned into a money mule or money launderer.

Still not convinced? I have this piece of land on Venus, that I would be willing to part with for the right price. But you will need to act fast.

We don’t just report on threats—we remove them

Cybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. Keep threats off your devices by downloading Malwarebytes today.


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It’s now easier to access your passwords on your Pixel phone

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It’s now easier to access your passwords on your Pixel phone
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Owning a Google Pixel device has its own benefits, and one of them is having quick access to all the saved passwords on your Google account. Once you sign into your Google account, you’ll see that all of your passwords are readily available right on the phone. However, getting to your passwords can be a bit of a tedious task. So, the company thought that it would rectify this. According to a new report, it’s now easier to access the password manager on your Pixel phone.

Getting into your password manager on your Pixel phone was always pretty tedious. Not only that, but it was rather counter-intuitive. It wasn’t as in-your-face as most other features. So, people who aren’t quite tech-savvy may not even know that the feature exists. You have to go to the settings, tap on the Google button, go to Autofill, go to Autofill With Google, and then tap on Google Password Manager. That’s about as tedious as it gets.

Thankfully, Google added a new Password Manager shortcut for Pixel phones

This is another example of why the system search feature in stock Android comes in handy. All you have to do is tap on the Google search bar on the home screen or in the app drawer and start typing in what you want to search for. You will find results from online sources, but you’ll also see results of apps and services locally on your device.

Well, on the most recent version of Android 14, it looks like Google added a shortcut for the Password Manager. Instead of navigating to your settings and jumping through all of the Hoops, all you have to do is open the search bar and start typing in the word “password.”

Google password manager new shortcut

When you do that, you will see a new Google password manager icon pop up. It will be at the top of the results. Just tap on the icon, and you’ll be able to access your passwords. This is an excellent solution for people who constantly want to keep an eye on their passwords but don’t want to constantly navigate through the settings


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Elon Musk-owned X’s valuation drops by 71%, reveals investor

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Elon Musk-owned X’s valuation drops by 71%, reveals investor
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Once Twitter, now X, is losing its value. Since Elon Musk acquired Twitter and rebranded it as X, its valuation has plummeted by 71%, according to investment firm Fidelity. Billionaire Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, and the venture, once valued at $44 billion, now stands at an estimated $12.5 billion.

The valuation of Twitter/X has dropped by 71%.

The financial firm that assisted Musk’s acquisition disclosed that X’s value declined by over 10.7% in just November, following Musk’s controversial remarks that dissuaded key advertisers. Fidelity had previously devalued its X holdings during Musk’s leadership.

Axios was the first to report on this matter, noting that the 10.7% drop in November was a result of Musk’s “Go f**k yourself” comment during an interview with the New York Times. Furthermore, more than 200 companies withdrew their ads from the platform, leading to a decline in X’s ad revenue.

Notably, Fidelity did not disclose the size of its current X stake, valued at $5.6 billion. The rationale behind Fidelity’s revised valuation remains unclear, leaving it uncertain if they have access to undisclosed information from the company.

It appears that X is making efforts to regain momentum. Recently, the platform reintroduced headlines to link previews, reversing one of its most unpopular changes. Only time will tell whether this move helps improve the company’s finances. But it sure will have a say because X is largely a platform for sharing information. And headlines play a major role, here.

Despite X’s deteriorating condition, Elon Musk remains the world’s richest person

Despite encountering economic challenges and personal controversies, Elon Musk continues to reign as the world’s financial leader. He has reclaimed his position as the wealthiest individual globally. His net worth is valued at $229 billion, according to a Bloomberg report. In 2023, Musk’s wealth surged by an astounding $92 billion, marking a 67.2% increase. This substantial growth primarily stemmed from the appreciation of Tesla, his electric car company. Its shares rose by an impressive 129.8%. In addition to Tesla, Musk also owns SpaceX and, notably, X.


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Cookies Exploit Allows Persistent Access After Password Reset

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Cookies Exploit Allows Persistent Access After Password Reset
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A Critical Google Cookies exploit involves manipulating or stealing user cookies, which store authentication information, to gain unauthorized access to accounts. 

Hackers exploit this illicit mechanism to:-

  • Impersonate users
  • Hijack sessions
  • Gain control over sensitive information
  • Gain unauthorized access to websites 
  • Gain unauthorized access to applications

A developer, PRISMA, discovered a major Google cookie exploit in Oct 2023 that allows persistent access post-password reset. A threat actor later integrated it into Lumma Infostealer, causing a ripple effect across malware groups.

Cybersecurity researchers at Cloudsek recently identified a new critical Google Cookies exploit that enables threat actors to persistently gain Google access after a password reset.

While researchers discovered this critical flaw by using “HUMINT,” and the root of the exploit has been discovered at “MultiLogin,” it’s an undocumented Google OAuth endpoint.

Google Cookies Exploit

On Oct 20, 2023, CloudSEK’s XVigil found ‘PRISMA’ unveiling a potent 0-day solution for Google accounts on Telegram:

  • Session Persistence: Stays valid after a password change, bypassing security.
  • Cookie Generation: Creates valid cookies for uninterrupted access.

Malware reverses to target Chrome’s WebData token_service table that helps in extracting:-

Structure of the token_service table
Structure of the token_service table (Source – Cloudsek)

Besides this, the table holds crucial columns like:-

  • GAIA ID (service)
  • Encrypted_token

Decryption uses Chrome’s Local State encryption key that is stored in the “UserData directory,” which mirrors the password encryption.

Chromium’s source code unveils the MultiLogin endpoint, an internal sync mechanism for Google accounts. 

Google’s chromium source code reveals parameter format, Data Format, and purpose
Google’s chromium source code reveals parameter format, Data Format, and purpose (Source – Cloudsek)

It aligns browser account states with Google’s authentication cookies for a consistent user experience. Besides this, several attempts were made to locate it using Google Dork, but all of them were unsuccessful.

The MultiLogin endpoint manages simultaneous sessions by accepting account IDs and auth-login tokens.

This undocumented MultiLogin endpoint, a crucial part of Google’s OAuth system, allows for the regeneration of cookies. 

Lumma’s sophisticated approach involves encrypting the token: GAIA ID pair, blackboxing the exploit and adding secrecy to its core mechanics.

Black boxing serves two purposes, and here we have mentioned them:-

  • Protection of the Exploit Technique
  • Evasion of Detection

Lumma’s sophisticated exploit manipulates the token: GAIA ID pair, enabling continuous cookie regeneration for Google services. Alarming is its persistence post-password reset, which allows:-

  • Prolonged account exploitation
  • Unnoticed account exploitation

Encrypting the key component signals a shift towards advanced, stealth-focused cyber threats, highlighting the stealth and protection of exploit methodologies in malware development.


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Galaxy Xcover 7 price revealed in new leak, it’s rugged & affordable

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Galaxy Xcover 7 price revealed in new leak, it’s rugged & affordable
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A couple of weeks back, we got word from an industry insider that Samsung would price the Galaxy Xcover 7 at under €400 in Europe. We now have a more precise price tag for the upcoming rugged device. The device will retail for €379 in the region, the same source claims. A launch date is still missing, though.

Galaxy Xcover 7 price revealed in new leak

The Galaxy Xcover 7 is Samsung‘s next rugged Android smartphone. While it follows up the Galaxy Xcover 6 Pro from 2022, the new device is more of a sequel to the Galaxy Xcover 5 from 2021. As the “Pro” branding suggests, the 2022 model was a premium offering. It was priced at €599 in Europe at launch. The 2021 model, on the other hand, debuted with a price tag of €289.

With a sub-€400 price, the upcoming Xcover phone qualifies as an affordable rugged offering from Samsung. Of course, you get a modest set of specs too. Leaks have revealed that the Galaxy Xcover 7 (model number SM-G556B) will sport a 6.6-inch display with an FHD+ resolution. More details are not available, but we expect it to be an LCD panel with a 120Hz refresh rate and a Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ protective layer on top.

Samsung is rumored to ship the device with MediaTek’s Dimensity 6100+ processor. This chipset has a peak clock speed of 2.2GHz, so you know it isn’t the best performer. However, it comes with an integrated 5G modem. It’s unclear if the Galaxy Xcover 7 will have multiple storage options but the base model will come with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. The aforementioned pricing is for this variant.

Earlier leaks have also hinted at a 3,950mAh battery for the Galaxy Xcover 7. Samsung will offer 25W wired charging here. Even its flagships feature 25W charging (looking at you, Galaxy S24). Other leaked specs include NFC, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.3, and Android 14. Since it is a rugged phone, you can expect strong build quality with IP68 water and dust resistance and drop-to-concrete resistance. We exclusively leaked its official renders in early November.

Samsung also has a rugged tablet in the pipeline

Samsung might launch the Galaxy Xcover 7 alongside the Galaxy Tab Active 5. The latter is the company’s next rugged Android tablet. It will also be an affordable offering, succeeding the Galaxy Tab Active 3 from 2020 rather than 2022’s Galaxy Tab Active 4 Pro. The tablet will be available in Wi-Fi and 5G versions. We expect the Korean firm to unveil the devices within the next few months.


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GE Profile’s new Revolutionary Smart Indoor Smoker belongs in everyone’s kitchen

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GE Profile’s new Revolutionary Smart Indoor Smoker belongs in everyone’s kitchen
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GE Profile, which is the brand that GE uses for all of its appliances, has just announced a new Smart Indoor Smoker that will be showing off at CES 2024 next week.

The Smart Indoor Smoker is the “first and only indoor electric smoker with Active Smoke Filtration.” GE Profile has also included connected, industry-first features, innovative technology, and countertop convenience, making it a huge revolution for smoking food.

The Active Smoke Filtration system uses heat and a highly engineered catalyst system to turn real-wood smoke into warm air packed with flavor. It is designed for optimal smoke with custom controls and maximum flavor; this unique airflow system, along with tight gaskets and seals, keeps the smoke in the appliance and not in the kitchen. Making it so that you can actually use this indoors.

GE Profile has added five adjustable smoke settings which will allow users to control the smoke levels until they find their ideal flavor. The customization will allow cooks to explore barbeque favorites and new recipes with ease. There are also six preset food options that will provide amazing results for brisket, pork ribs, pork butt, chicken wings, chicken breast, and salmon, using a heat source at the bottom of the appliance. Users are also able to customize their food and smoke settings for other foods of choice.

Best of all, the Smart Indoor Smoker is dishwasher-safe. So you can remove the racks and drip trays and place them in the dishwasher to cook.

When can you buy the GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker?

This is one of those CES products that you’d expect to be launching many months from now, if at all. But that’s not the case here. GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker will be available nationwide in early January, with a suggested retail price of $999.

That’s some pretty quick availability, and it might be the only CES product to launch in the same month as CES.


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Facebook will make it easier to keep track of the links you open

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Facebook will make it easier to keep track of the links you open
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Facebook turns 20 years old in just over a month, and it’s still unveiling new features to the public. Until now, there wasn’t really a way for you to keep track of the links you open on Facebook. This hasn’t been a big problem, but that’s not stopping the company from making changes. Today, Facebook just introduced us to the link history feature.

Keep track of your links on Facebook

The Facebook help page explains how this feature works, and it’s pretty straightforward. When you view the page with your history, you’ll see a log of the links that you followed. So, you’ll be able to see all of the links that you recently visited on the app.

Not having a history of your links isn’t quite a big issue. Most people go onto Facebook to check up on their friends and post their status, not to browse the internet. So, a link history feature isn’t as crucial to Facebook as it is with Google Chrome or Safari.

However, that is not to say that this feature is useless. If you spend enough time on Facebook, you’re bound to open a handful of links before you call it a day. Tracking down those links on an ever-changing and scrolling feed is nearly impossible. So, if you happen to stumble across a link that lights up your night, you’ll have a way to find it again.

What else should I know about Facebook link history?

There are a few things to note before you try to access your history. Firstly, this feature is still rolling out at the moment. So, there’s a chance that you won’t see it. It might not be available in your area just yet. If you don’t see it, then you’ll want to wait and check back every now and then.

If you’re planning on looking for a link you visited a while back, you’ll be disappointed. This feature will only save your history from the past 30 days. So, if you come across a great link, you’ll only have a month to revisit it.

There are going to be people who don’t like this feature. For those people, there’s a way for you to disable it. Just know that this feature will be enabled by default, so if you don’t like the thought of it, we’ll go over how to disable it later on in the article.

One important thing to know is that (surprising no one) Facebook will use the links in your history to refine its ads for you. So, this is another way for the company to obtain information on you to target its ads. This will be the motivation for more people to disable this feature.

Lastly, Facebook link history is only for people using the mobile app on Android and iOS.

How to disable Facebook link history

It’s pretty easy to disable this feature. Firstly, tap on the three-dot menu at the top right of the screen. There, tap on the Go to Settings button. You’ll see a list of services and features that you can enable/disable. Look for the Allow link history option. Tap on the switch next to it to turn it off. You’ll then get a confirmation popup.

Once you disable it, your link history up to that point will be deleted, so make sure you save any links that you don’t want to lose.


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