The HTC “Marlin” Nexus will be accompanying the HTC “Sailfish” Nexus for being this years Nexus devices, and specs of Marlin have now emerged. The Marlin will be sporting a 5.5″ QHD AMOLED display, 4GB RAM, 32GB and 128GB storage variants, rear fingerprint scanner, 3450 mAh battery and more. AndroidPolice...
Thursday, June 30, 2016
Carrier Unlocked SD820 Galaxy S7 / Edge Available in USA… Bootloader Likely Still Unpenetrable
The Samsung Galaxy S7 and the S7 Edge are arguably among the best Android smartphones one could buy right now. Whether you like or hate the various nuances that come along with Samsung devices, like Touchwiz and locked bootloaders to name a few, there’s no denying that the phone works for the normal...
Android N Officially Named Android Nougat
The upcoming Android N update has finally received its name unveiling, and as the statue was revealed and added to the collection, we found out the name is Android Nougat!
What is a Nougat, exactly? From Wikipedia:
Nougat is a family of confections made with sugar or honey, roasted nuts (almonds,...
SwiftShader is Now Fully Open Source
Google has been using SwiftShader in Chrome since 2009, and they’re also using it in Android development tools as well as cloud services. This technology allows for 3D rendering on systems that can’t fully support hardware-accelerated rendering. This technology is now fully open source and those...
Dropbox Announces Upcoming Changes to Camera Uploads
On July 22nd, Dropbox will change the way camera uploads are handled with smartphones for basic accounts. If you want to continue with your automated camera uploads, basic customers will have to install the desktop application or upgrade to a pro account. Dropbox Basic customers will still be able to...
Design Sketches of the Rejected OnePlus Smartwatch
Before the official release of the OnePlus 3, we learned that the company was also discussing the idea of releasing a smartwatch as well. They ended up tossing out the idea so they could focus 100% on the upcoming flagship, but this week we got a look at some unique designs OnePlus was thinking about...
Qualcomm Optimizes Select Snapdragon SoCs for Tango
Google’s Tango AR technology can be very taxing on the CPU unless there’s a way to offload the work being done and this is exactly what Qualcomm is doing with the Snapdragon 652, 820 and future 6xx/8xx SoCs. So while older Snapdragon 6xx/8xx chips can’t be used in a Tango device, OEMs will be free...
Statistics of Google’s Summer of Code 2016
Google’s Summer of Code 2016 started a little more than a month ago and today we’ve reached the halfway point. Now that we’ve reached the halfway point and both mentors as well as the students have finished their midterm evaluations, Google has released some statistics about the event....
Google Launches My Activity Page
Depending on your Google account settings, the Mountain View tech giant tracks a lot of your daily online activity. This week, the company has launched a new My Activity page that does a few things. Firstly, you can use it to revisit something you did or looked at earlier today. The page will also let...
Xiaomi Mi Max Launched in India for Rs. 14,999 ($222) / Rs. 19,999 ($296)
In an event in New Delhi, Xiaomi has launched the Mi Max in India. The phone comes in two RAM+storage variants, with the 3GB RAM + 32GB storage variant with Snapdragon 650 SoC costing Rs. 14,999 ($222) and the 4GB RAM + 128GB storage and Snapdragon 652 SoC comes in at Rs. 19,999 ($296), and the first...
Win a Bezel-Less Elephone S3! We Have Two
Lately we’ve been talking about the budget-friendly, bezel-less Elephone S3. Just $149.99 (with the current sale, or $199.99 regularly) gets you a phone that has an ultra-modern look and feel thanks to its unique zero-bezel design and metal build. It has other goodies like a Sony camera, fingerprint...
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
ZTE Employee Hints at Unlocked Bootloader on Axon 7
One important aspect of how many users decide to buy a phone is whether or not they can root it or flash ROMs. Many users, myself included, hold the ability to root in high regards, and almost find no...
Google Play Store Version 6.8 Hints at Sharing Music Purchases on a Family Plan, Improved Data Pre-Loading
Google Play Store Version 6.8 is now rolling out with hints suggesting a possible upcoming change within the Google Play Music Family Plan. Currently, subscribers to the Play Music Family Plan are unable to share individual purchases among family members, as noted in the help page:
Each family member...
Sony Xperia Home Open Beta Adds Google Now Integration
The Open Beta for Sony’s Xperia Home launcher has now added in Google Now integration and support in its latest update. This makes Sony the first OEM to incorporate Google Now in its custom launcher. Google Now can be enabled from the Home settings, and can be accessed by swiping left-to-right on the...
Google is Testing Internet Speed Test Directly from Search
Google, in collaboration with Measurement Labs, is testing out a feature that will allow users to test their internet speed and latency directly from search. The search query needed is “check internet speed”, but the feature is not rolled out for all users. Microsoft’s Bing has a similar feature in...
Google Maps Starts Rolling Out Multi-Waypoint Directions
Google Maps has finally been granted a long awaited feature, the ability to create a multi-waypoint route and get suitable directions. This will now allow users to travel from Point A to B with multiple pre-defined stops in between, and get the best route for it. The change is being pushed through a...
Amazon Discounts the Moto G4 for Amazon Prime Members… by Including Bloatware and Ads
If you are an Amazon Prime Member in the USA, Amazon is rolling out a hard-to-resist deal for you. You can now take advantage of “exclusive pricing” of up to 50% off on two decent Android smartphones,...
OnePlus Warn About Price Increases, Says Brexit is to Blame
Britain’s decision to leave the EU made headlines the world over recently as the referendum’s leave campaign won by a narrow margin. One expected result was a temporary drop in the Great British...
Humble PC & Android Bundle 14 Announced
Humble Bundle’s 14th PC & Android bundle comes with a number of good games this month. Pay anything you want, and you will get 100000000, Badland and SPACECOM. Pay $3 or more, and you get Please Don’t Touch Anything, Spider: Rite of the Shrouded Moon and You Must Build...
LG Makes it Easier to Connect Your Smartphone to the PC
LG has just announced a new, official app that will let you connect your LG G4, LG G5 and LG V10 to your PC. With the app installed on your phone and PC, you can then control your keyboard and mouse directly from the smartphone. This app also lets you transfer files to and from both the PC and your...
Moto G4 & Moto G4 Plus is Available for Pre-Order in the US
If you live in the United States and have been waiting for the Moto G4 and Moto G4 Plus to arrive, then we’ve got some great news for you. Both devices can be pre-ordered directly from Motorola as well as select retailers like Amazon, Best Buy and B&H Photo. Prices start at just $200, and will start...
Android Pay is Now Available in Singapore
Samsung recently brought their mobile payment service to Singapore and now Android Pay has arrived there as well. Participating banks include DBS, OCBC Bank, POSB, Standard Chartered and UOB. The payment service will work at participating stores, within participating applications, as well as participating...
Exploring The Differences In Top Cloud Services
In this video I wanted to highlight some of the different features that set these cloud apps apart from each other. I have always just used dropbox and Google drive and haven’t paid too much attention...
Qualcomm Seeks 520 Million Yuan from Meizu in Lawsuit
Qualcomm recently went to the Intellectual Property Court in Beijing to file a complaint against the Chinese OEM Meizu for allegedly violating their patents. Meizu doesn’t use Qualcomm chips, but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t be violating patents they own. Qualcomm is looking for 520 million...
HP Announces the Chromebook 11 G5
With the big push to get Android apps on Chrome OS devices, HP has now announced a brand new Chromebook, the Chromebook 11 G5. This device has an 11.6″ touchscreen display, Intel Celeron N3060 CPU, and is said to offer 12.5 hours of battery life. The Chromebook 11 G5 will be priced at $190,...
Xiaomi to Add Split Screen Support in MIUI 8
MIUI 8 is going to be a big update to Xiaomi’s smartphones and we’re starting to learn about some interesting features it will receive. Along with the visual changes, the update is also said to include split screen multitasking, live screen recording, and support for fingerprint payment services. However,...
Google Releases their Expeditions App in the Play Store
Google’s Expeditions project was a way to let students take virtual field trips without ever having to leave the classroom. Sadly, there doesn’t seem to be an easy way to do a virtual tour of the 200+ expeditions they offer, but you can setup a second device as the “navigator” and then use your smartphone...
Huawei Schedules a Product Launch for September 1st
IFA 2016 is scheduled to begin on September 2nd, and will last until the 7th, with lots of electronic products anticipated to be launched. Huawei is jumping the gun and plans to announce some new phones on September 1st, the day before IFA 2016. No details on what exactly they’ll announce, but some...
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Introducing A New Series: Ask TK
For the past few years TK has been making videos here on YouTube and you probably already know a bit about him. He’s starting a new series here on XDA TV called “Ask TK”.
This new advice show will take your questions from either YouTube or Twitter and give you any Android related information you’re...
An Insight Into Huawei’s Product Management and Future Plans
AndroidPit had an opportunity to sit down with the Chief Product Manager of Huawei to talk about Huawei’s product lineup and their product challenges. The article provides insight on topics such as product innovation, risk taking, rebranding and technology adoption with respect to Huawei, and how these...
PSA: Enable Scroll Anchoring in Google Chrome to Prevent Annoying Page Jumps
There are a ton of awesome features hidden away in many Google apps that are rarely hyped up namely due to a lack of advertisement by Google. One such feature hidden away in Google Chrome’s chrome://flags page is the Scroll Anchoring feature.
Introduced back in April initially only in Google Chrome...
LeEco’s New Flagship is Rumored to Have a Dual Camera Module
It was only yesterday when we learned that Samsung would be providing dual camera modules for various Chinese smartphone OEMs. If this leaked photo is legit, it seems that LeEco wants in on this dual camera trend as well. The rear shell shows a spot for a rear- fingerprint scanner and...
Google Releases v3 of their Google Cast SDK
At Google I/O earlier this year, Google announced a new Cast SDK (version 3.0) and said it would be available to developers soon. This week, the company has announced this SDK is now available to all developers, and you can use it in your apps right now. The new SDK simplifies parts of the previous...
Google’s Project Bloks Helps Teach Kids to Code
Learning to code can be difficult for anyone and getting children interested in it can be even harder. Google recognizes this and has just announced Project Blocks as a way to help out. With Project Blocks, Google has made code physical and this helps to engage with kids at a much deeper level...
Google Outlines Android Changes to NDK
Some things are changing with Android N and Google has been doing their best to inform developers about them before its official release. The next version of Android will require stricter requirements for writing clean, cross-platform compatible native code. In a recent blog post, Google has detailed...
Google Improves Mobile Support with TensorFlow v0.9
TensorFlow is Google’s machine learning engine and we saw the company make it open source back in November of last year. This week, Google has pushed out an update that brings it to version 0.9. This update adds support for iOS. the Raspberry Pi, and they’ve added some new compilation options....
First Custom ROM for the Huawei Watch Released
After custom recoveries and kernels, the Huawei Watch has received its first custom ROM. Made by XDA Senior Member negamann303, the ROM is based on the MWD69 Android Wear 1.5 Update....
Google Partners with LyricFind to Show Lyrics Directly in Search Results
Google has struck an agreement with LyricFind to serve lyrics for songs directly in search results. In the future, when users search for the lyrics for a popular song, they can view the lyrics directly on Google’s search page, without needing to open an external website....
Monday, June 27, 2016
App Pricing Structures — Turn Your Hobby in to a Profitable and Sustainable Career
We all love Free, Open Source Software, but we must also remember that for many people the few dollars you spend on their app is their sole source of income. Spend some time in the forums or on any dev...
OnePlus Issues Clarification for OnePlus 3 Delivery Delay in UK
The OnePlus 3 and its accessories are facing some unforseen delays in the UK, unrelated to the Brexit. OnePlus has issued a clarification regarding these delays which are caused due to the high demand, schedule misalignment and output delays. The company has offered a few respite to the affected customers,...
UMi Super Battery Report: How Far Can 4,000mAh Take You? [SPONSORED]
The UMI Super is one of the better packages for the picky consumer on a budget, sporting a beautiful metal design with specifications that defy its price.
At $179, the elegant phone carries inside it...
ElementalX Kernel for the OnePlus 3
If you are looking for a custom kernel to use along with your OxygenOS installation, try out XDA Recognized Developer flar2‘s kernel! The kernel is still in beta, but should be liveable for most XDA users....
What is Something Android Should Not Have Changed?
Android has is sometimes considered a work-in-progress by many — and with good reason too. It’s a growing platform, and there are several areas where it can still improve upon, even after 7+ years of existence.
Things are upgraded and new things are broken or removed with every update, with...
APKs Available from Samsung’s New Beta UX
XDA Senior Member ksr007 was lucky to be part of Samsung’s new beta program, which is now testing out a new UX. If you’re looking to get your hands on the new apks, follow along the download links!...
CM Theme Brings You Android N’s Rumored Nav Bar
Recent rumors have suggested that Android N’s official release will also come with a redesigned navigation bar (yet again). For anyone running CM12, CM13, or any custom ROM with the CyanogenMod Theme Engine, you can get this new redesigned nav bar on your device thanks to this free theme from Deepak...
Samsung’s TouchWiz Replacement Detailed on Video, Will Likely Arrive with Note 7
Samsung’s TouchWiz UI has slowly been transforming itself over the years, progressively pleasing more and more enthusiasts by trailing away from the bloat and clutter it was so infamous for. While there...
BlackBerry Hamburg to be Manufactured by TCL/ALCATEL
BlackBerry has been rumored to be partnering with TCL and now we get a glimpse into their first product together. A recently uncovered WiFi certification form suggests a device with the same model number as Hamburg (STH100-2) is being produced by TCL (the same company who manufactures ALCATEL ...
Samsung Begins its Corporate Restructuring
Back in March, we learned that Samsung wanted to restructure their corporate culture as they felt it wasn’t as efficient as it could be. Today, it’s being reported that this change has started to go into effect. nOW, 7 job titles will be reduced down to 4, and they’ll be adding the Korean suffix “nim”...
Honor 8 Teased Before Official Release
Huawei’s next big Honor smartphone, the Honor 8, was recently rumored to be launched on July 5th. Now, the company is starting to tease the upcoming device so this adds some credibility to its rumored July 5th launch date. Other rumors suggest it will have a 5.2″ 1080p display, Kirin 955 SoC, 4GB RAM,...
HTC’s VR Division to Become an Independent Subsidiary
Back in January, it was reported that HTC was going to spin off their VR division into its own separate company. This was debunked by an official HTC statement the next day, but it seems like HTC was planning on something similar. HTC’s Global Sales President has now announced the HTC Vive division...
Samsung Rumored to Supply Dual Camera Modules to Chinese OEMs
Samsung has already been supplying single camera modules to various smartphone manufacturers, but a new rumor says the company is ready to start selling dual camera modules in July. The rumor cites “industry sources” and claims Samsung will be selling them to both Xiaomi as well as LeEco starting next...
Google Plans to Release its Own Smartphone This Year
If you are an Android enthusiast, and chances are that you are since you are here on XDA-Developers, you would likely need no introduction to the Nexus lineup of devices. Nexus devices are devices that are a result of partnership between Google and the lucky OEM: Google takes care of the development...
Sunday, June 26, 2016
Are Third Party SMS Apps Worth It?
Third party SMS apps are meant to add a bunch of wonderful customization and security features to your texting experience. While the default texting app on your phone is probably pretty simple,...
Saturday, June 25, 2016
Next Note Device Likely to Bear “Note 7” Moniker, Specs Leaked
If you are waiting for the Samsung Galaxy Note 6 to sweep you off your feet and give you your reason to upgrade, you might me waiting indefinitely. Because as current leaks and rumors go, the Note 6 is likely to never be released.
Okay, we are being a bit overtly dramatic here. The “Note 6” is what...
Oculus Stops Device Check for Rift-Exclusive Titles
Oculus was blocking owners of the HTC Vive from buying and playing Oculus Rift-exclusive games, but the company has now reversed its decision. The device checking features that were added recently are now removed. Oculus mentioned to The Verge that the decision to check for Rift hardware was consciously...
Microsoft to Stop Surface 3 Production by Late-2016
Microsoft has little plans to manufacture the entry-level Surface 3 tablet by the year end. The Surface 3 launched in May 2015, and has been running low on stock for a while. A statement from the company confirms that production of the Surface 3 would be wound down over the next few months....
HTC 10 vs Galaxy S7 microSD Speed
So here is something that a lot of people usually don’t think about when it comes to the performance of their phone. How fast is the microSD slot? We put two of this year’s biggest phones to the test...
Friday, June 24, 2016
Sprint Hinting at Deals Tomorrow – Here Are the Details!
If you look at Sprint’s social media today you might have noticed tweets like the one below:
The wait is almost over! Come in to any Sprint store TOMORROW & get amazing deals! https://t.co/AgDyr1dshv http://pic.twitter.com/Ix7P622wir
— Sprint (@sprint) June 24, 2016
It’s clear that as part...
XDA Friday 6/24/16
It’s Friday this Christmas! That means it’s time to go back and check out all the best news from XDA this week. Check out our recap video or just take a look at our favorite articles below.
Google May Add Live-Support App for Nexus in Android N, Along with Navigation Bar Refresh
I can’t wait to try...
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 “Special Edition” Spotted with 4G Band 20 Support
Another variant (kate) of the Snapdragon-650 based Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (kenzo) has been spottedon Xiaomi’s Taiwan website. Dubbed the “Special Edition”, the device bears the same specifications but with Band 20 support for 4G....
YouTube Announces Livestreaming Support for its Android App
YouTube does video best, but it has been beaten by the likes of Twitter-owned Periscope and Facebook Live when it comes to mobile livestreaming. Although livestreaming existed prior to this announcement, it did in a limited fashion with scope only for big-name events. Now, an upcoming update for YouTube...
Google May Add Live-Support App for Nexus in Android N, Along with Navigation Bar Refresh
We’re in the last few days of the first half of 2016, which means that a lot of what was supposed to happen in the Android world for this year has already happened: we’ve seen the newest sets of SoC’s...
OnePlus 3 Reviewers’ OTA Impressions: Better RAM Management and More Accurate Calibration is Just What the Doctor Ordered
OnePlus has rolled out a 3.1.4 Oxygen OS update to the OnePlus 3 in order to address a few of the issues that early reviewers pointed out. The update, however, is only available for reviewer units at...
BlackBerry’s Fiscal Q1 Forecast Shows an Increase in Revenue
BlackBerry has just released its fiscal Q1 forecast and it shows the company’s smartphone division is still shrinking. BlackBerry sold 500,000 smartphones in the quarter, but this is down from 600,000 in the previous quarter. However, revenue for the quarter was at $424 million, which is 21% higher...
Netflix is Now in Android TV’s Universal Search
Android TV’s universal search feature has been able to pull in results from places like YouTube, Hulu, and the Google’s Play Store. For some reason, it took longer to integrate Netflix but now that wait is over. Android TV users can now use the platforms universal search feature to find their...
Rumored Specs for the HTC Nexus, Sailfish
Android Police has a source who claims they know what the specs will be for the upcoming HTC Nexus with the codename Sailfish. If true, we’re looking at a 5″ 1080p display, unknown 2.0GHz quad-core SoC, 4GB RAM, 32GB storage, 12MP rear and 8MP front cameras, 2,770mAh capacity battery, rear fingerprint...
Nextbit Teases a Battery Saving Update for Q4
It’s refreshing to see Nextbit continue to work on their software instead of trying to push out another smartphone as fast as possible. Today, it’s been announced that Nextbit is working on a new OTA update for Q4 that will focus on battery life. The company claims they can “apply the same intelligence”...
WhatsApp Handles Over 100 Million Voice Calls a Day
WhatsApp is by far one of, if not the, most popular messaging platform in the world today. Over 1 billion people are using it and today the company has announced they are handling over 100 million voice calls each and ever day. When doing the math, this averages out to over 1,100 calls every single...
HTC Might Bring Sense Home 8 to Non-HTC Devices
HTC has a beta test program for upcoming apps and updates, and a new project seems to indicate they might want to bring Sense Home 8 to non-HTC devices. It’s just a test right now, so it might not work out in the end. If it goes well though, we could get to use the HTC Sense 8 launcher on any Android...
HTC Might Bring Sense Home 8 to Non-HTC Devices
HTC has a beta test program for upcoming apps and updates, and a new project seems to indicate they might want to bring Sense Home 8 to non-HTC devices. It’s just a test right now, so it might not work out in the end. If it goes well though, we could get to use the HTC Sense 8 launcher on any Android...
OnePlus 3 Users Complain About Ads in Hydrogen OS
Some recent OnePlus 3 customers in China are complaining that their device has ads embedded within the Hydrogen OS software. The users are complaining about a new “Live Services” section that was added to the Dial interface. This Live Services section is trying to sell users prepaid tickets, express...
Google to Conduct Android Studio Roadshow across India
Building an Android app seems simple at the surface and to some extent, that might hold true, but as developers go deeper down the rabbit hole, it becomes a complicated and difficult process involving a bunch of libraries, a wide set of testing rules, various development tools, et al. Android Studio...
Paranoid Android 6.0 ROM Overview
In this XDATV video, Miles takes a look at the AOSPA comeback in the new Paranoid Android 6.0 ROM. If you’d like to skip the video just continue reading for the same content.
Floating Mode
The...