xda android

mercredi 18 novembre 2020

OnePlus Game Space 2.5.0 update brings over the OxygenOS 11 UI to the game management app

Soon after OnePlus released its first Android 11 developer preview, the company started rolling out redesigned versions of its stock apps for older OnePlus devices. Over the last few weeks, the company has released updates for three apps — OnePlus Weather, OnePlus Notes, and OnePlus Gallery — all of which introduced the OxygenOS 11 design refresh. Now, OnePlus has started rolling out OnePlus Game Space v2.5.0 via the Play Store, and it too includes the new OxygenOS 11 UI.

As you can see in the attached images, OnePlus Game Space v2.5.0 features a new design that’s more in line with the overall OxygenOS 11 aesthetic. Much like the OnePlus Weather app, it now has a lot of empty space at the top, and most of its UI elements have been moved closer to the bottom of the screen for easier access.

OnePlus Game Space 2.5.0 OxygenOS 11 UI update (2)

The game carousel on the app’s home screen has been replaced with a simpler list, which shows an expanded card for the topmost game with two buttons — one to access settings like remove, uninstall, and shortcut, and the other to launch the game. However, the Game statistics page and app settings haven’t received any major changes.

OnePlus Game Space 2.5.0 OxygenOS 11 UI update (6)

As mentioned earlier, the updated OnePlus Game Space app has started rolling out to users via the Play Store. But since our tipster is enrolled in the beta program, we aren’t sure if the rollout is limited to the beta channel or not. In case you haven’t received the update notification yet, you can manually check for it by following the Play Store link below. Make sure you drop a comment below if you’ve received the update on the stable channel.

OnePlus Game Space (Free, Google Play) →

Thanks to XDA Senior Member Some_Random_Username for the tip!

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Apple cuts App Store commission rate to 15% for smaller developers

Apple and Google collectively control the mobile app ecosystem and that’s no understatement. Apple’s iOS and iPadOS and Google’s Android power more than 99% of the smartphones and tablets in the world. Both the tech giants also dictate how app developers get paid for purchases made by users on the App Store and the Play Store. They charge a hefty 30% of developers’ revenues as commissions for facilitating the obligatory in-app purchases. This policy has blighted many indie developers and caused bigger ones — such as Spotify and Epic Games — to launch full-blown insurgencies against these tech giants. However, Apple is now taking a major step backward and halving its commission rate for small developers.

Apple today announced its App Store Small Business Program to “accelerate innovation and help small businesses and independent developers.” As per the new policy, they will now charge only 15% as a commission instead of the erstwhile 30% for developers making less than $1 million in yearly revenue.

This announcement comes as a major relief from Apple to app developers marketing and selling their apps on the App Store. The step shows that Apple is addressing major pain points to incentivize developers, just like they promised during the online WWDC event earlier this year. According to NYTimes quoting Sensor Tower, this move will affect about 98% of the companies that pay Apple a commission, but these developers account for less than 5% of the App Store revenue last year. This way, Apple keeps its pie while still earning goodwill from a large population.

Apple is far from lowering its guard against larger developers, especially disgruntled ones such as Epic Games, which launched a campaign against the allegedly Orwellian ecosystem.

Earlier this year, Epic Games bypassed Apple and gave users the option to make direct payments in exchange for a 20% discount. Apple retaliated by removing Fornite from the App Store for violating their payments policy, and therefore, limited the availability of the first-person shooter on iOS — owing to the lack of a reliable third-party app store. Epic sued Apple in return but Fornite updates on iOS stay suspended for the last three months. Epic, together with Spotify and others, also joined a “Coalition for App Fairness” to challenge the monopoly by Google and Apple.

While the battle between Apple and the Fornite developer is yet to yield an epic outcome, the latest step will definitely calm down the former’s critics. We also hope that Google follows Apple’s lead in lowering down Play Store commissions, which — ironically — it has been bolstering.

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Microsoft Outlook for Android tests email categories and a floating action menu

Early last month, Microsoft rolled out an update for the Outlook app for Android that added support for 2-way sync between Google Calendar and other calendars. The company is now working on bringing two more useful features to the app, which will allow users to categorize emails and quickly access essential features from a new floating action menu.

Android developer and reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi recently spotted these unreleased features and shared the following screenshots. According to his tweet, the upcoming “Categories” feature on Microsoft Outlook for Android will allow users to group emails, events, and contacts based on customizable categories. Once released, the feature will show up as a new “Categories” option in the app settings.

Predefined categories in Microsoft Outlook for Android

Category customization in Microsoft Outlook for Android

Tapping on this option will open a new page, which will include a couple of predefined categories and a button to add a custom category. When you tap on any of these predefined categories, you will see a pop-up that will let you change the category name and color. However, it isn’t clear how these categories will be displayed in the inbox.

#Microsoft is working on a floating action menu in #Outlook for #Android

This menu can be opened with a long press on the button to compose a new email in the messages list or on the button to add a new event in the calendar tab. pic.twitter.com/ogoAfP8hiP

— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) November 17, 2020

Along with the “Categories” option, Microsoft Outlook for Android will also get a new floating action menu to help you quickly access a few essential features. You will be able to access the menu by tapping and holding the compose button. As you can see in the attached tweet, the menu will include 5 new options — Voice Search, Meet now, Book a workspace, New contact, and New event.

As of now, we have no official information from Microsoft regarding these features. We’ll update this post as soon as we learn more.

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Download: Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro gets first MIUI 12 build with Android 11

Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 9 Pro is one of the best purchases available in the early mid-range in India, offering itself as a great hardware package at an aggressive price point. The phone comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G chip, an impressive quad-camera array, a massive 5,020mAh battery, and support for up to 18W fast charging. Launched with MIUI 11 on top of Android 10, the smartphone received stable MIUI 12 update a few months ago, and is now getting its Android 11 update in India.

Redmi Note 9 Pro XDA Forums

Bearing version number V12.0.1.0.RJWINXM, the update is 2.3GB in size for its recovery flashable ZIP. As mentioned earlier, this build is meant for the Indian variant of the Redmi Note 9 Pro (code-name: “curtana_in“), which means it can’t be installed on the global Redmi Note 9 Pro (code-name: “joyeuse_xx“). Owners of the Redmi Note 9S (code-name: “curtana_xx“), however, can manually flash the update package using a custom recovery solution like TWRP.

xiaomi-redmi-note-9-pro-India-android-11-miui-12-ota

Thanks to Twitter user @Brindhaukender for the screenshot!

Since this is the first public build of Android 11 for this phone, we expect that there will be plenty of bugs and perhaps a few stability issues. As such, sideloading this build is only recommended for experienced users who are well versed with flashing updates. Please do make adequate backups of your data before flashing the update.

Download Android 11 with MIUI 12 for the Redmi Note 9 Pro (codename: curtana) — V12.0.1.0.RJWINXM

Do note that the company treats the current update as a “stable beta”, which is a bit different from regular stable builds. An authorized Mi Account might be required to sideload the aforementioned ZIP file. Once Xiaomi marks it to be stable enough, they are going to flip a server-side switch that will eventually remove the need for such authorization before flashing.

Thanks to XDA Recognized Developer yshalsager for providing the download link!

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Google Camera 8.1 adds a “Storage Saver” mode to let you take more photos and videos

Google Camera 8.0 debuted with the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G earlier this year in September. As expected, the app came with a host of new features for these devices, including Night Sight portrait mode, Cinematic pan, and more. Along with these features, Google Camera 8.0 also brought a revamped UI with new buttons, a quick zoom toggle, a quick access toggle for video modes, etc. However, it didn’t include one previously advertised Pixel 5/4a 5G exclusive feature.

According to a Google support page, Google Camera on the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G is supposed to have a “Storage” section in the app settings that lets users turn on “low storage mode.” But this setting is missing on Adam’s Pixel 5 review unit and another user’s Pixel 5, although both units are running Google Camera 8.0.

A Google support page mentions that the Google Camera app on the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G has a “storage” section and a “low storage mode” option. I’ve checked with 2 Pixel 5 owners who say it’s not there, though.https://t.co/iD40YoCS4w

This is what it should look like: pic.twitter.com/7rF9eEOEQS

— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) November 16, 2020

However, upgrading to Google Camera 8.1 adds this new storage section and a “Storage Saver” mode to the devices, which seems to be the updated name for the aforementioned low storage mode. According to its description, the Storage Saver mode changes settings that use large amounts of storage to help users save more photos and videos on their devices. But using this mode “may reduce image or video quality.” Interestingly, the feature doesn’t seem to be a Pixel 5/4a 5G exclusive, as several users on Twitter with older Pixel devices have confirmed getting the feature with the Google Camera 8.1 update.

I have it too. Sideloaded 8.1 Google Camera, otherwise stock Pixel 4 XL and Pixel 5. pic.twitter.com/wliDPhHBe8

— Artem Russakovskii (@ArtemR) November 17, 2020

As of now, it isn’t clear why the feature is said to be a Pixel 5/4a 5G exclusive on Google’s support page when it’s actually available for any Pixel device running Android 11 and the latest Google Camera 8.1 APK. We suspect that the support page may just be outdated.

If you wish to try the new Storage Saver mode on your Pixel device, you can try sideloading Google Camera 8.1 from APKMirror. In case the installation fails, you can try clearing Google Play Services data and cache before installing it again. A few users have managed to install the APK using this workaround, but your mileage may vary.

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The Zepp Z is a new premium smartwatch with Amazon Alexa support

Chinese wearables manufacturer Huami launched another smart wearables brand, called Zepp, earlier this year in September. The new brand debuted with two mid-range smartwatches — the Zepp E Square and Zepp E Circle — which were essentially the same device with slightly different screen sizes and shapes. Priced at $249, the Zepp E series offered a more premium design than its Amazfit counterparts, along with the same set of fitness tracking features. Continuing with this premium design trend, Zepp has now unveiled the Zepp Z smartwatch.

Zepp Z: Specifications

Specification	Zepp Z
Build	Titanium alloy case, leather strap
Dimensions & Weight	45.9 x 45.9 x 10.75mm 40g
Display	1.39-inch AMOLED display 454 x 454 pixels 326ppi 550 nits peak brightness 100% NTS color gamut
Sensors	BioTracker 2 PPG Sensor Geomagnetic sensor Gyroscope Air pressure sensor Accelerometer Ambient light sensor
Storage	256MB
Battery & Charging	340mAh Rated for up to 15 hours on a single charge 2.5-hour charge time
NFC Support	No
Connectivity & Location	Bluetooth 5.0 BLE GPS GLONASS
Water resistance	5ATM
Compatibility	Android 5.0 and above, iOS 10.0 and above

The new Zepp Z smartwatch features a 46.3mm unibody titanium alloy case that comes with an NTC nanotech coating for scratch resistance. The case houses a 1.39-inch vivid AMOLED display that covers 100% of the NTSC color gamut and offers a peak brightness of 550 nits. The circular dial is flanked by two buttons and a classic crown on the right edge, which let you control all of its features.

Zepp Z on white background

The Zepp Z packs-in a wide array of sensors that enable all of its fitness tracking features, including a BioTracker 2 PPG sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, a gyroscope, an air pressure sensor, and more. The fitness tracking features include 24/7 heart rate monitoring, blood oxygen level tracking (SpO2), sleep tracking, stress level monitoring, and 12 sports modes. The smartwatch also features the PAI health assessment system to help users easily understand their fitness tracking data.

Zepp Z on white background

The smartwatch is equipped with GPS and GLONASS for positioning, it’s water-resistant up to 5ATM, and it packs in a 340mAh battery that can last up to 15 days on a single charge. Much like the recently launched Amazfit GTS 2 and GTR 2, the Zepp Z comes with Amazon Alexa integration. In terms of customization, the Zepp Z comes with over 50 digital watch faces.

Pricing & Availability

The Zepp Z is priced at $349, and it’s already up for sale in the US on the company’s website. It’s available in a single color variant that comes with a titanium case and brown leather strap. As of now, Zepp hasn’t released any information about its availability outside the US.

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mardi 17 novembre 2020

Grab the Emerge Vartan Gaming Chair for $150 and support your back for long hours at the computer

Okay, I get it. There’s a big stigma against gaming chairs. I, generally, hold the same opinion! Gaming computer chairs tend to be brightly colored, oddly shaped, and just scream “some poor designer was told to make something that appeals to gamers but doesn’t know what on earth a gamer wants”. But the thing is, the chairs can actually be comfortable if you look for ones specifically made for those that spend all day, every day at their computers. And some even look alright, like the Emerge Vartan gaming chair.

This chair is available in four colors, and honestly, it doesn’t look all that bad! I really like the purple one, because it has darker purple and grey accents that are more subtle than a stark white or red. Right now, at Staples, all of the models of the Emerge Vartan gaming chair are just $150! This is 34% off the MSRP os $230, and it’s also available for free next day shipping.

You might be asking though, why a gaming computer chair, and why now? Well, many of us have been stuck inside now, working from home and continuing to do so for the foreseeable future. Many of us also now have new home hobbies that revolve around a computer, whether it be gaming, streaming online movie nights with friends, or any number of things. If you’re spending a lot of time sitting down, then it’s important to have a proper chair that can support you. A bad chair can do make than just make your workday suck–it can seriously mess up your back!

So, while the Emerge Vartan gaming chair may seem a little expensive, it has the comfort and support you need for long workdays. It can also recline up to 135 degrees, can be adjusted to your height needs, and is easy to assemble. The only real potential downfall to this chair is that it’s made from leather, so keep that in mind if you’re considering it!