Google Drive is rolling out an updated document scanner UI with better iconography

Last year, Google spent much of its time and energy adopting the Material Theme design for the majority of its Android apps. Google Calendar, Google Photos, Google Drive, Google Keep, Google Home, Google Play Store were among the apps that received a visual and functional overhaul. The design language makes heavy use of wide spacing between visual elements, cleaner and flatter icons, and the rounder Google Sans font.  In a lot of apps like Photos and Google Camera, Google also revamped the feature shortcuts and brought them closer to the bottom to improve single-handed usage. Now, Google Drive’s document scanner feature has received a similar design change with an updated iconography.

Almost a year after Google Drive apps were retouched with the Material Theme design, the new document scanner UI gets more elaborated with additional shortcuts. We first found out about Google’s test of the new scanner UI in Google Drive back in December last year.

The new interface has four buttons in the bottom row. Starting from the left, the first button takes you back to the camera for rescanning documents or adjusting the grid. The second button from the left allows you to choose between the different color modes such as B&W, Color, and Color Drawing. Using the third option, you can rotate the image while the fourth one lets you crop it. The button below this row of icons lets you add more pages to the scanned document and after you add more than one image, you see a an extra button in the row for dismissing the current image.

The ellipsis i.e. the three-dot button on the top right opens up menu options. Here you can change the settings like the page size, image quality, and the paper orientation for the PDF that is created with the collection of scanned pages.

The new scanner UI in Google Drive is available to all users and appears to be a server-side switch. To start using the UI, just tap on the “+” icon within Google Drive and then on Scan.

Google Drive (Free⁺, Google Play) →

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Some Android apps are being replaced by PWAs when installing through Google Play on Chrome OS

All the way back in 2017, Google announced that it would phase out support for Chrome apps on Windows, Mac, and Linux in favor of Progressive Web Apps. At the time, however, PWAs were pretty much basic websites that weren’t as well-built as a native application. Over the last couple of years, PWAs have evolved quite a bit and today they can easily replace native Android applications for a lot of services. Due to the significant improvement in the quality of PWAs, a few services are now choosing to set up their PWA as the default option on the Play Store for Chrome OS devices.

As per a recent post from Chrome Unboxed, Twitter’s PWA has now replaced its native web app as the default option on Chrome OS. This means that Chromebook users installing Twitter from the Google Play Store will now get the Twitter PWA instead of the Twitter app for Android. It’s worth noting that this is the first time a service has replaced its native app with a PWA on the Play Store and this goes to show how much PWAs have evolved over the years. Along with Twitter, YouTube TV has also made its PWA the default option on Chrome OS and it’s no longer listed as incompatible with your device on the Play Store.

The change doesn’t have any effect on the end-user and installing the aforementioned apps on a Chromebook will work just the same. Users will get the same uninstall dialog like any other app on the Play Store and the PWAs can even be removed from your device directly from the Play Store. The PWAs will be installed just like any other service, with the only exception being that it won’t be an Android APK anymore. As of now, Twitter and YouTube TV are the only two services to replace their native apps with PWAs on Chrome OS, but we expect more services to jump on the bandwagon in the near future.

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Source: Chrome Unboxed (1,2)

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YouTube tests video chapters to help you jump forward to specific parts

YouTube videos are available in a variety of lengths, starting from 30-second short videos and going all the way up to 12 hours, even though you can even find much longer videos from the past. While watching long content like tutorials, it is common to skip forward to the intended time. So to help with that, YouTube is adding new functionality in the form of “video chapters” that lets you can skip forward or rewind to any specific part of the video without having to drag the scrubber.

Video chapters on YouTube are based on the timestamps for different parts of the video as mentioned in the description. For instance, a video with an entire album or a live concert can have timestamps for different songs. So, with video chapters, users will be able to jump to different tracks through the entire video by clicking or tapping on the different parts of the scrubber. When you just hover the mouse pointer above any section or chapter, you will see the title which is also fetched from the video description along with your current progress in the section.

Image by Android Police

Android Police confirms that as of now, chapters are solely based on description time stamps and YouTube will not add chapters automatically. However, we can expect Google to infuse some of its machine learning prowess to slice the videos into chapters.

YouTube’s video chapters are already available to some users on the web player interface. Some others also reported having received the feature in the Android app and the same has been confirmed by Google to be a “test.” The feature is said to be available on certain videos on the web as well as Android and iOS apps. If you’re a creator and want to opt out, make sure the first timestamp in your video description is anything but 0:00.

Don’t worry if the feature is not available to you since it is still under evaluation by the YouTube team. It appears to be rolling out to a small group of users and we’ll let you know when it reaches a wider userbase.

Thanks to Twitter user @QueBottler for the screenshots.

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Image Warp helps you transform pictures with manually adjustable grids

When it comes to photo editing apps, the Google Play Store offers a boatload of options to choose from and each app offers something unique. You have apps like B612 that pack in a range of interesting filters, to ones like Google’s Snapseed that offer a vast range of image manipulation tools to edit your photos. If you’ve ever used Snapseed before, then I’m sure you’d already be familiar with its Perspective tool which, as its name suggests, lets you change the perspective of your image. However, the adjustments offered on Snapseed could prove to be a bit limiting for those of you who want to make several perspective adjustments in one image. This is exactly where the Image Warp app comes in.

The Image Warp app is essentially Snapseed’s Perspective tool on steroids. It gives you access to a manually adjustable grid that you can use to skew, scale, distort, rotate and completely transform your image. Unlike the Perspective tool on Snapseed, which just lets you change the perspective of the entire image, the Image Warp app lets you set grid points to change the perspective of individual parts on any image. The app has an easy to use interface and it includes support for all commonly used image formats. Once you’re satisfied with an edit, the app lets you export images as a PNG file or as a cropped JPG up to 16MP in size. Additionally, it offers support for some unique gestures like double-tap to reset picture zoom and long-press undo button to rest grip which can come in handy while you’re editing your photos. If all of this sounds interesting, then you should definitely try out Image Warp by downloading it from the Play Store link below.

Image Warp - Grid Modifier (Free, Google Play) →

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Download Android 10 custom ROMs for the Realme 5 Pro: LineageOS, Pixel Experience, more

The budget-friendly Realme 5 Pro (review) from last year was among the first few devices from the company to receive the Android 10-based Realme UI update. Shortly after rolling out Realme UI for the device, the company also shared its Android 10 kernel source code in an effort to promote third-party development. Just a few weeks since developers first got access to the kernel source code, our forums are chock full of custom ROMs for the device. In case you own a Realme 5 Pro and wish to try out a custom ROM on your phone, here are all the Android 10-based custom ROMs that you can flash right away:

Realme 5 Pro XDA Forums || Buy the Realme 5 Pro from Amazon.in (starts at ₹13,999)

Unofficial LineageOS 17.1

An unofficial build of the popular LineageOS 17.1 custom ROM is now available for the Realme 5 Pro. The Android 10-based ROM offers a stock Android experience with a few additional customization features, making it a great alternative for those of you who don’t quite enjoy Realme’s new UI. For those of you who have already installed the Realme UI update, do note that you’ll need to downgrade to ColorOS before flashing this ROM on your device.

Unofficial LineageOS 17.1 for the Realme 5 Pro

Official Pixel Experience ROM

The Pixel Experience ROM based on Android 10 is another great option if you wish to enjoy stock Android on your Realme 5 Pro. The AOSP based ROM not only offers a stock Android experience but it also comes with all the goodies that you’d usually find on a Google Pixel device, including the Pixel launcher, wallpapers, icons, fonts, and even the boot animation.

Official Pixel Experience ROM for the Realme 5 Pro

AOSPExtended ROM

Just as its name suggests, the AOSPExtended ROM for the Realme 5 Pro is an AOSP-based ROM that packs in some useful UI/UX customizations on top of stock Android. These include options like power menu customizations, fingerprint gestures, advanced ambient display customizations, status bar date customizations, and much more. Follow the instructions in the forum post below to get it up and running on your device.

AOSPExtended ROM for the Realme 5 Pro

Arrow OS

While all the aforementioned ROMs offer a ton of customization options, if you’d much rather go for a more minimal experience then you should try Arrow OS on your Realme 5 Pro. The AOSP-based ROM offers a stock Android experience with just the most essential add-ons to enhance the overall experience. Even though the ROM may not be feature-packed, it offers a fast and functional experience that you might enjoy.

Arrow OS for the Realme 5 Pro

ExtendedUI ROM

Based on the Pixel Experience ROM, the ExtendedUI ROM aims to provide a UI that’s unlike any other ROM out there. On top of that, it offers a bunch of useful features like ambient edge lighting, FOD icon picker, double-tap to sleep on the status bar, a smart replies toggle, and much more. To try it out for yourself, just head to the forum post linked below and follow the instructions to flash the ROM on your device.

ExtendedUI ROM for the Realm 5 Pro

EvolutionX ROM

Much like the Pixel Experience ROM, the EvolutionX ROM aims to give you a Google Pixel-like experience on your Realme 5 Pro. Unlike the Pixel Experience ROM, however, it packs in a boatload of customization features like an RGB accent picker, different system fonts, edge lighting, FOD icon picker, and much more. Follow the instructions in the forum post linked below to flash the ROM on your device.

EvolutionX ROM for the Realme 5 Pro

DerpFest ROM

Rounding things off is the DerpFest ROM which aims to offer the best features from the most popular ROM, along with its own unique set of features. The ROM will let you completely change the look of your device using its extensive theming features and make it more functional using the status bar, quick settings, gestures, and button customizations. Head over to the forum post linked below and follow the instructions to flash the ROM on your phone.

DerpFest ROM for the Realme 5 Pro

Unofficial TWRP custom recovery for the Realme 5 Pro

Before you can flash any of the aforementioned custom ROMs on your device, you’ll need to flash a custom recovery. Thankfully, an unofficial build of the popular TWRP custom recovery is already available for the Realme 5 Pro and you can flash it by following the instructions in the forum post linked below.

Unofficial TWRP recovery for the Realme 5 Pro

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Red Magic 5G is now available for pre-order, global sales begin April 21st

The Red Magic 5G was announced in early March as Nubia’s latest gaming-focused smartphone. The brand is no stranger to this growing market, and the Red Magic 5G brings a few new features to the fold. The device is now available for prospective buyers to pre-order and will be available globally on April 21st.

Red Magic 5G Forums

The headlining feature of the Red Magic 5G is not the 5G support that gives it its name. Instead, it is the fact that is the first smartphone on the market with a 144Hz refresh rate display. Of course, as with any other high refresh rate display on smartphones these days, it’s only used to its full potential if certain applications. Games that do support running at higher frame rates will feel great to play. If you’re worried about heat and power consumption, Nubia says the device is kept cool with the “Turbo Fan” system.

The other striking thing about the Red Magic 5G is the design of the phone. There are three color options to choose from, and they each offer a very bold look. “Gaming phones” tend to have a specific aesthetic, and the Red Magic 5G certainly fits into that mold. Another great design feature is the touch-sensitive shoulder buttons. Check out the full specifications below the video.

From April 14th to 21st, 100 customers each day can buy a voucher worth $50 for just $5.79. This voucher can be used to buy the Red Magic 5G and other accessories. Here is how pricing for the device breaks down by region:

Storage/RAM	Color	USD	EUR	GBP
8GB/128GB	Eclipse Black Hot Rod Red (Coming Soon)	$579	€579	£539
12GB/256GB	Pulse	$649	€649	£599

Specification	Nubia Red Magic 5G
Dimensions and Weight	168.56 x 78 x 9.75 mm 218g
Display	6.65″ FHD+ AMOLED; 19.5:9 aspect ratio 144Hz high refresh rate 240Hz touch sampling rate In-display fingerprint sensor
SoC	Qualcomm Snapdragon 865Adreno 650
RAM and Storage	8GB LPDDR5 + 128GB UFS 3.0 12GB + 128GB 12GB + 256GB 16GB + 256GB
Battery & Charging	4,500 mAh battery 55W fast charging Compatible with Quick Charge 4.0 and Power Delivery 3.0
Rear Camera	Primary: 64MP Sony IMX686 sensor, f/1.8 Secondary: 8MP, Wide-Angle Camera Tertiary: 2MP, Macro
Front Camera	8MP
Other Features	Active cooling through rotating fan within the phone 3.5mm headphone jack Low latency game screencasting Touch-sensitive shoulder buttons WiFi 6 Dual-frequency GPS Side pins for further docking
Android Version	Red Magic OS based on Android 10

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Google Play Services 20.15.13 prepares to add a page to list RCS/Chat apps

Messaging in the U.S. differs majorly from the rest of the world. While apps like WhatsApp and Telegram have become the staple communication platforms in most countries, Android users in the U.S. still pretty much rely on SMS chats, especially because their counterparts using iPhones are hooked to iMessage. This has inspired Google to draw a parallel and work on RCS messaging – Rich Communication Services; more colloquially known as “Chat” – with multimedia features and read receipts. While the feature has been limited to Google’s own SMS app – Messages, it might soon be extending to other messaging apps.

Google will soon be adding a new page to show the list of all installed apps that support RCS or Chat messages. We discovered references to this upcoming feature in the latest Google Play Services by tearing down the latest APK package.

An APK teardown can often predict features that may arrive in a future update of an application, but it is possible that any of the features we mention here may not make it in a future release. This is because these features are currently unimplemented in the live build and may be pulled at any time by the developers in a future build.

The new strings we found in Google Play Services v20.15.13 indicate that the new Settings page in Google Play Services will show the list of RCS supported apps on your phone. The page will also guide users on how to set up and use RCS messaging in these apps. The update, however, does not add any new option to switch RCS on or off per app and that functionality may be limited to the individual app. Given you can only use one Messaging app to send and receive SMSes at a time, RCS features will only be available via the default app for text messages.

The following strings found in the Google Play Services v20.15.13 suggest how the upcoming feature might work:

<string name="c11n_chat_features_activity_label">Chat features</string>
<string name="c11n_chat_features_learn_more">Learn more about Chat features</string>
<string name="c11n_chat_features_privacy">Privacy Policy</string>
<string name="c11n_chat_features_terms_of_service">Terms of Service</string>
<string name="c11n_chat_features_text">"Chat features lets you send upgraded, high-quality images and videos over Wi-Fi and mobile data using Rich Communication Services (RCS).&lt;br/>&lt;br/>When you turn on Chat features from Google, you agree to the %1$s. Google will occasionally verify your number with your carrier (SMS charges may apply). Google's %2$s describes how data is handled. %3$s."</string>
<string name="c11n_connected_apps">Connected apps</string>

We also found the following string that refers to a tutorial on how to enable RCS messaging in the Samsung Messages app:

<string name="c11n_samsung_steps">To turn Chat features on/off&lt;br/>1. Open %1$s&lt;br/> 2. Go to More options &lt;b>⋮&lt;/b> and tap &lt;b>Settings&lt;/b>&lt;br/> 3. Tap &lt;b>Chat Settings&lt;/b> and turn Rich Communication settings on/off</string>

This suggests that Samsung may be one of the earliest smartphone makers to receive support for the service. We’re not sure whether it will be exclusive to the flagship series like the Galaxy S20 lineup just like the 1080p calling feature on Duo, or available basis the Android version, or available for all Samsung phones unequivocally. The seamless exchange of RCS messages between Google and Samsung devices was first announced back in 2018.

We will update you when the feature starts rolling but thanks to JEB Decompiler, we have been able to reverse engineer and get a preview. The screenshot above shows the same for the Messages app on a Google Pixel device. We also have a guide on how to activate RCS Messaging on Android Messages irrespective of your carrier.

Messages (Free, Google Play) →

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Thanks to PNF Software for providing us a license to use JEB Decompiler, a professional-grade reverse engineering tool for Android applications.

What are your thoughts on Google’s Chat messaging and where does it stand in comparison to iMessage? Let us know in the comments below!

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