Traditional RSS Readers have always been about run-of-the-mill excerpt lists and subsequent full articles, and Top News is geared towards standing out from the pack. Sporting a unique floating bubble, the app delivers headlines from each of your feeds, resulting in excellent multi-tasking and an innovative user experience.
The post Top News Delivers RSS Headlines, Chat-Heads Style appeared first on xda-developers.
Amazon’s efforts at producing a budget-friendly tablet yielded the Kindle Fire HD 6 and 7, and despite the online retail giant’s substantial efforts at marketing the devices, enthusiasts weren’t impressed, their judgement buoyed by the tablets’ desolate scene in the modding community.
However, it looks like things are finally looking up for owners of the HD 6 and 7, as XDA Recognized Developer jimz made a breakthrough and managed to unlock their bootloaders. With that barrier knocked down, it was only a matter of time before a custom recovery hit the devices, and sure enough, jimz ported TWRP 2.8.6.0 to both tablets. The bootloader unlocking procedure is fairly complex, but jimz has detailed every step thoroughly, guiding users 
Given that the Fire HD 6 and 7 are MediaTek devices, the bootloader being unlocked and TWRP being ported are stellar advancements in what previously seemed to be a bleak future. Head over to the bootloader unlock thread and the TWRP thread to get started with modding your tablet. Happy flashing!
The post Kindle Fire HD 6 and 7 Receive Bootloader Unlock and TWRP appeared first on xda-developers.
Earlier today, we reported on the mid-range 8GB Sony Xperia M4 Aqua only coming with 1.26GB of free storage. Unfortunately, the M4 Aqua isn’t the only device that’s crippled by incredibly heavy and bloated software. Some OEMs are slowly learning but there’s still a long way to go. How much internal storage do you actually have on your device? Let us know in the comments below.
The post How Much Internal Storage Do You Actually Have? appeared first on xda-developers.
A lot of themes go overboard when styling system elements, struggling to get away from the stock look. Elgan UI, on the other hand, embraces it and applies its finesse to the finer details with a flat green color scheme and an elegant finish, and works on any device with Theme Engine.
The post Elgan CM12 Theme appeared first on xda-developers.
Another week, another recap. The Sunday tradition marches on this week with a fresh no-nonsense look at big-picture news. Here in the digital XDA writers’ room, we spend our days pouring over an average of 2,500 news items and forum threads every 24 hours. Only the most timely and interesting bits survive the editing process, but the portal’s front page still sees weekly counts in excess of 100 posts. This is a glut of content to absorb, especially if following the news cycle isn’t your full-time job. However, the tech world is vast, and the information must flow. With this in mind, let’s dive into a slimmed-down version of this week’s news that’s the perfect size for easy Sunday afternoon consumption!
XDA covers more than just news, and nowhere is that more apparent than Jordan Keyes’ weekly posts to XDA TV. Here’s the latest round of ROM updates and phone tweaks mixed with a dose of current events; enjoy!
Full annotations for this video can be found in the main XDA TV post from Friday. For more from the TV team, Monday’s recap of last weekend highlights noteworthy community announcements that didn’t make it to the Friday feature. However, if you’re already two deep into these YouTube videos, you might as well settle in with some popcorn and fire up the complete archive (found here).
For all the news and only the news, read on.
Sony announced this week that 21 of their devices will make the jump to 5.1 during July, including those on the previously announced 5.0 roll out list being pushed to the likes of T-Mobile’s Z3 as we speak.
Samsung’s 5.1.1 update is still a little ways off as well, but a preview firmware for the S6 and S6 Edge has surfaced at SamMobile, complete with multi user support and new camera modes (video and writeup available here). In related news, the update is expected to land on the Note 4 in late July.
Motorola’s smartwatch is conspicuously absent from the update list, even though 5.1.1 was promised to the Moto 360 more than a month ago. However, a recent tweet points to performance issues as the root cause of the delay, and hopefully the end product will be worth the wait.
For the most up-to-the-minute news about these and all other devices, be sure to subscribe to the relevant general thread within the XDA Forums proper.
Two Indian Cars Gain Android Auto – Mahindra and Mahindra, the Indian automotive manufacturer behind the Mahindra XUV500 and Scorpio, has signed on to the Open Automotive Alliance and announced its intentions to include Android Auto. Read more.
Samsung Galaxy S6 Teardown – Have you ever wondered what’s under the hood of a Samsung flagship? Find out in this newly released teardown on SamsungTomorrow.
LG G4 International Gains TWRP – Minor announcement that is what it says on the tin. Learn more!
ARM and Samsung Sign Agreement for Mali GPUs – Thanks to a new partnership, Mali GPUs from ARM will make their way into Samsung phones at all price points. Learn more!
Elephone S2 and S2 Plus – The Chinese bit-player Elephone is back with two devices now up for pre-order. Both the Elephone S2 and S2 Plus sandwich 2 GB of RAM and a MediaTek 6735 processor between two sleek panes of glass, and feature Android 5.1 out of the box. You can pre-order the 5” HD version for $159.99 direct from elephone.hk, with the 5.5” model coming in at reasonable $10 markup.
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge (Emerald Green) – Shoppers in India finally have the option to buy Samsung’s latest flagship in Emerald Green for Rs. 58,900. Only the 32GB model comes in this trim color so far, and the Blue Topaz version is still MIA, but expanded purchasing options are always welcome. Buy now.
Samsung Galaxy S6 Active – AT&T is now hinting at the release of a new S6 variant that earlier popped up in support pages with a 5.1” 2560 x 1440 super AMOLED display and a 2550 mAh battery. Unfortunately, very few specifics are known about the device so far, aside from the usual expectations of a rugged frame and comparable specs. Read our full coverage here for more.
HTC “Hero Product” – October could see another HTC flagship launch in a bid to make up for the tepid response to this year’s M9. No specifics were given alongside this revelation during the annual general meeting, but HTC CEO and Chairwoman Cher Wang appears confident that the new strategy will put the company back on track. Learn more!
App development runs on numbers, and the latest batch of usage statistics is now up for grabs.
Comscore also released April numbers, but with a focus on OEMs and the US market over the last quarter. Android maintains its slim majority lead over iOS by a nine point margin, down slightly over last quarter’s nearly twelve percent lead in the States. While the Apple is the sole purveyor of iOS and thus controls 43% of the device market, the rest is split among Samsung (28.6%) LG (8.4%), Motorola (4.9%) and HTC (3.7%), most of which comes from Android. You can check out the full story here, including a breakdown of the top 15 apps that shows Snapchat and Pinterest each installed on one in five phones.
Knowing the lay of the land is one thing, but breaking into the world of Android app development is another. In an effort to help out, Google launched a new development course at I/O through a partnership with Udacity, and now they are back with a 45 minute Q&A session on YouTube to explain the basics. Check it out here if you’re still on the fence about dedicating the next 9-12 months and up to $2,400 to the program.
Are you still working through the backlog of recorded talks from I/O? The folks over at RoboVM have compiled a handy written summary of the dev tools section to speed up the process. Bone up on the improved Gradle plugin and build system, enhanced emulation suite, and host of new additions to Android Studio including C/C++ support, profiling tools, annotations, and more over on the full site.
Chrome has allowed users to create website shortcuts on their homescreens for a while, but version 44 now brings similar functionality to websites with native Android apps. Assuming a few site conditions are met, the familiar “add to Home screen” menu item can now walk users through the app installation process, complete with permissions screens and opening prompts. News of this feature first broke last month, but somehow it slipped through the cracks. To find out how to upgrade your own site, check out the Google Developers Blog here.
That is it for this week, but we will be back next Sunday for another round of recaps. After all, the news never sleeps, but that doesn’t mean you should sacrifice your own rest to stay informed!
The post XDA Recap: This Week In Android (May 31 – Jun 6) appeared first on xda-developers.
If you are a wanderer of our forums and own a Samsung device, we can assume that you have heard of XDA Recognized Developer and Contributor, wanam, before. For those who haven’t, wanam is the developer of WanamLite roms for a bunch of Samsung devices, as well as the developer of some popular Xposed modules like Youtube Adaway and Wanam Xposed.
Speaking of Wanam Xposed, the module has received an update recently adding support for Samsung Lollipop devices. The test version that was released supports only Samsung Lollipop ROMs and has been tested with only some of its long list of features, such as:
– Circle battery
– Clock position
– Fake system status (Official)
– Private mode and SHealth support
– Extended power menu
– Expanded notifications
– Remove Sfinder and quick connect bar
– Ignore Security notifications(Knox)
– Expanded volume panel with custom background color
– Updated some notifications features
– Skip media with volume buttons
– CSC features
Between releasing the last update and us reporting it, the app has been updated again with a fix for an issue related to heads up notifications.
There are a few things to note here. For one, Wanam Xposed still does not support 64-bit Samsung Lollipop devices, so support is restricted to 32-bit Samsung Lollipop devices. The module also uses a modified version of arter97’s unofficial Xposed framework for Samsung Lollipop devices, which can be found linked to in the update post.
If you own a Samsung device, go ahead and give this a spin to see why people like this particular module.
The post Wanam Xposed Updated With Samsung Lollipop Support appeared first on xda-developers.
With the Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, and LG G4, 2015 looks to be the year of great cameras on smartphones.
Today we will be looking at the LG G4. At first glance, the device looks a lot like the G3 from last year. Add to that the slight curve on the display and you may think it’s the LG G Flex 2’s cousin. Ultimately, this is a device that packs a great set of features. These features are sure to make you a fan right out of the box.
What’s In The Box:
The phone packs a Hexa-Core processor, the Snapdragon 808 chip clocked at 1.8 GHz with the Adreno 418 GPU. This combination is unique for a device released in mid 2015. LG decided to sport the 808 CPU in its flagship, which was likely done in response to the heat issues that faced the G Flex 2 running the Snapdragon 810. The CPU works great and competes with the best of them. We are kind of at the point where the hardware is truly ahead of the common daily driver needs.
The display is an IPS Quantum Quad HD 2560 x 1440 resolution panel protected by Gorilla Glass 3. The camera, however, is the real star of this great device. We get a F1.8 16MP camera on the back, with a F2.0 8MP camera on the front. The G4 comes with a massive 3000 mAh battery and 3 GB of RAM, more than enough for all your multitasking needs.
Device Specifications:
Over the course of 8 days of testing, the G4 handled everything I needed and did a great job taking great photos and videos. The battery lasted easily a day with normal use. As the review unit does not work with US LTE bands in my area, I was limited to 3G speeds. Your experience may vary depending on 4G LTE availability and your specific model.
Comparing the G4 to my other phablet devices, like the Nexus 6 and Note Edge, I have to say it feels better in the hand. The device is light with a good grip, and just performs very well in the camera department.
The device runs Android 5.1 Lollipop out of the box with the LG UX 4.0 UI on top. Where the LG G4 shines is in the hardware. The Software just does not seem to match the experience. It is not that LG’s UI is bad, it just feels less cohesive compared to Samsung’s TouchWiz. I quickly fixed that by installing Nova Launcher and this made me enjoy the user interface much better.
The LG G4 comes with themes and automation built in to the device, to help you make it a truly unique experience. There is a power saving mode to help squeeze more life out of the massive battery. The camera app is great with the manual mode and RAW format support, but I can’t help but feel like they could have put in some filters and better shooting modes.
The camera on the LG G4 is the going to be one of the main reasons to buy this device. The camera app on the device offers the option to manually control all aspects of the camera, from the focus to the white balance and more. The one thing to mention is that even though you can shoot in RAW format, you don’t have very modes in this app.
Hopefully with the release of the G4, the app store will work correctly and we can update the camera interface. This will make the camera even more attractive. I am pleased to see that cameras on our devices are getting better and better every year.
The design of the G4 is really a progression of the G3 with some G Flex 2 thrown in there. This is due to the slight curve in the display, and the overall design of the phone. I had a hard time getting used to the device with the buttons on the back. Specifically when the phone was on the table and I wanted to raise the volume, but this is minor and not a challenge for LG G3 users.
The G4 is customizable allowing you to create a unique phone. You can remove the back and change it with some premium options. The battery is also removable, which is definitely welcomed considering that most flagships this year have done away with removable batteries. The G4 also comes with SD card support, which is a big plus to me. I am personally reminded on a daily basis that my Nexus 6 32GB device needs more storage, and I wish I could replace it with the 64GB version. The moral of the story here is we need more storage on phones that can do 4K and take massive photos and videos.
The LG G4 (LG-H815) unit that we received for review did very well for the 8 days it was under review. I am sad to have to send it back, but I am considering picking it up from my carrier soon. The device performed very well and held its own. I enjoyed the time I had with G4 and will most likely get one as my daily driver.
The price of the G4 seems to be a little lower than most of the flagship devices on the market. At $600 on T-mobile off contract, the LG G4 is a very good deal for anybody wanting to upgrade to a new device this year.
The camera is by far the best camera on a mobile device. The display is stunning. You will not be disappointed with this device. I feel the pros outweigh any issues you might find with the user interface.
The post Device Overview: LG G4 appeared first on xda-developers.
