The ASUS ROG Phone II already has a successor for this year, but the 2019 gaming flagship still packs some serious punch. Its powerhouse specifications include the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ chipset, up to 12GB of RAM, up to a whopping 1TB of internal storage, a behemoth 6,000 mAh battery, and a buttery smooth 120Hz AMOLED display. The ROG Phone II also has a developer-friendly OEM, which means you can try out plenty of mods and custom ROMs on this smartphone. If you’re running a custom ROM, though, you may have noticed the lack of RGB controls for the ROG Phone II’s “Republic of Gamers” logo. Thankfully, there’s a new app in town with which you can control the RGB illumination, even when you’re running a custom ROM.
XDA Junior Member Terminal_Heat_Sink has developed this app that not only allows you to customize the illumination pattern on the ROG logo on a per-app basis but also gives you the ability to utilize the second LED for notifications. Named “Asus ROG Phone 2 RGB”, the app internally hooks into the RGB driver, which is why root access is a prerequisite for using it. According to the developer, the app does work on the stock ROM as well, but you must upgrade to the official Android 10 firmware to ensure full compatibility.
Below you can find the list of custom animations supported by the app. Note that the color wheel doesn’t work with all of them.
The app is coded in such a way that you don’t have to set up all of the settings for custom notifications each time you reinstall it. There is an option to export all the settings to a file named .terminal_heat_sink.asusrogphone2rgb.xml which you can find at the root of the internal storage. To import, just place the XML file in the same location and use the “Import Settings” wizard inside the app.
SARS-CoV-2, also known colloquially as just the coronavirus, has wreaked havoc across the world. Many countries shut down large parts of the economy in order to contain the spread of the virus. As countries reopen their economies, many health experts fear a “second wave”, ie. resurgence, of COVID-19. To prevent a second wave, public health experts are advocating that nations adopt contact tracing, ie. tracing all the people who have recently come into contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 and then undertaking steps to isolate those individuals. Contact tracing is difficult to implement correctly without violating an individual’s privacy. The threat to personal privacy was severe enough for Google and Apple to collaborate on an API that developers of public health agencies can use to implement app-based contact tracing solutions. This contact tracing API, which Google and Apple call the Exposure Notification API, is designed to respect user privacy and security.
Once a user downloads an app that uses the Exposure Notification API and opts in to contact tracing, their device starts generating “proximity identifiers” that are changed every 15 minutes (on average). Via Bluetooth Low Energy, these “proximity identifiers” are periodically shared with nearby devices whose users have also opted into contact tracing. The proximity identifier is then processed on-device and does not reveal information about a user’s location or other personally identifiable information. Once a user confirms a positive diagnosis of COVID-19, they can share their diagnosis with the app they installed, which will then inform other users who have come into close contact with them in the last 14 days. For more information on how the Exposure Notification API works, we recommend reading our initial coverage.
Google first rolled out the Exposure Notification API for Android devices on May 20, 2020, as part of an update to Google Play Services, but its use is restricted to apps that have been developed by official public health agencies (for obvious reasons). However, neither Google nor Apple has made details public about the list of apps that have been whitelisted for using this API, so unless you’re constantly keeping up with the news, it’s hard to know which countries have adopted the API. We’ve previously covered some of the countries that have adopted the Exposure Notification API when we talked about the various open-source contact tracing projects that are out there. In this article, we have compiled a list of official contact tracing apps from designated health agencies from various countries that are using Google and Apple’s Exposure Notification API. Our list contains COVID-19 contact tracing apps that have been released or are currently in development.
We discovered Google’s hidden whitelist of application package names for the API. Subsequently, these package names were traced back to apps, their listing, and the countries they belong to. The information is compiled below in a table for easy reference. We have also added Google Play Store and Apple App Store links, if the app has been publicly released, as well as the source code and the official website link, wherever available. We will update the following tables as more countries/regions adopt the API.
Updated Ireland’s listing to include the source code
Added the name and package name of Spain’s app.
Google has updated the package name “eg.nc.moh.bruhealthtrace” to “egnc.moh.bruhealthtrace.” This matches the “BruHealth” contact tracing app from the government of “Brunei.” We have updated the table accordingly.
June 30, 2020
Added Spain’s Radar COVID app
July 1, 2020
Fixed Japan’s listing to reflect that COCOA – COVID-19 Contact App has already been released.
Added a separate table for open contact tracing implementations based on Google and Apple’s Exposure Notification API. PathCheck SafePlaces was moved to this table and COVID Shield and Common Circle were added.
July 6, 2020
Ireland’s COVID Tracker app has been released on Google Play and the Apple App Store, so the listing in the table has been updated with links to reflect that.
July 8, 2020
Added: North Ireland, the Netherlands (second app), Finland, and MITRE’s COVID Aware app
July 15, 2020
Added: Arizona, CV Key
Updated: New Canadian app, package names for UK apps, Mexican app, updated Ghana –> Gibraltar
July 22, 2020
Added: Nevada (?) pending verification
August 5, 2020
Added: Belgium (In-Development), New York (In-Development)
Updated: Virginia (Released), North Dakota (In-Development), Canada (Released), Croatia (Released), Ecuador (Released), Northern Ireland (Released)
August 10, 2020
Added: Slovenia, Arizona, South Africa (?) pending verification
Re-verified that released apps are using COVID-19 ENS.
When Google introduced Allo in 2016, the company also detailed a feature for developers of messaging apps known as App Preview Messaging. This feature was aimed at allowing users to send a message from their favorite messaging app to any contact in their phonebook (provided both the sender and the recipient are using an Android device), even if the recipient of the message doesn’t have the app installed. So, say you try starting a Duo video chat with a friend. If your friend doesn’t have Duo installed on their Android phone, they’d get a notification prompting them to download it thanks to App Preview Messaging. The feature is even set up to give users the ability to reply to the message without installing the app! Google employed this feature in Allo (which no longer exists), Duo, and Photos to get people to sign up for these services.
Unfortunately, the feature seems to have fallen by the wayside, never graduating from early access despite Google’s promises to open it up. It’s unclear if any non-Google app ever used the feature in the first place. Regardless, Google recently updated the developer documentation for App Preview Messaging to announce that the early access program has ended and the feature is being deprecated (via AndroidPolice). The page now says that, “as of Q3 2020, this program is complete, and users can no longer send messages with App Preview Messaging.”
Users have always been able to turn off App Preview Messaging in Settings > Google > Data & messaging or block these notifications entirely. Now that the early access period is complete, though, these user settings will be removed from Google Play Services. Google recommends developers turn to Business Messages as an alternative.
Back in April, we spotted a new feature in development for the Google Phone app called “Flip to Silence.” This feature is supposed to let users silence the ringtone from an incoming phone call by flipping the phone over. When we examined the code for this feature, we determined that the setting will only show up on devices that don’t support Digital Wellbeing’s “Flip to Shhh” feature. That means it can only show up on non-Pixel devices with the Google Phone app installed. Today, the setting started to show up for many users, but the feature doesn’t seem to actually work just yet.
We were first tipped off by Twitter user @TheTweetofVidd about the “Flip to Silence” setting showing up. The user spotted the setting on their Redmi Note 5 Pro running the Pixel Experience custom ROM. On Twitter, users with the Essential Phone, Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, iQOO 3, Redmi Note 5A, ASUS ZenFone 6, and POCO F1 spotted the setting in the Google Phone app. I also noticed it on my own OnePlus Nord review unit, though sadly, the feature didn’t work when I actually tried it.
The “Flip to Silence” setting can be found in the new Settings > Advanced submenu. Screenshot credits: @TheTweetofVidd
Earlier this month, Google made the Phone app installable on basically any non-Pixel device. Before then, it only came pre-installed on Pixel phones, Android One phones, and certain devices like the OnePlus Nord. Once the new “Flip to Silence” feature actually starts working, users who don’t have Digital Wellbeing’s “Flip to Shhh” feature, which is only available on the Pixel 2, Pixel 3, Pixel 3a, Pixel 4, and Pixel 4a, can turn their phone over to silence incoming phone calls. Some OEMs have this feature baked into their custom Android skins, but it’s nice to see Google add it to their dialer app for anyone to enjoy.
Huami-owned Amazfit is a well-known maker of smart wearable accessories, but the company recently decided to rebrand itself as Zepp. Besides a new name and logo, nothing is changing for existing owners of Amazfit wearables. Moving forward, though, any future products the company launches will be under the Zepp brand. The first wearables under the new brand are the Zepp E Square and Zepp E Circle. These new smartwatches are billed as complete wellness devices, offering sleep tracking, heart rate monitoring, and bloody-oxygen saturation monitoring (with an SpO2 sensor).
Amazfit App Update! The Amazfit app has been officially renamed to Zepp. Your app will automatically update & your Amazfit devices will continue to work as normal. We think you’re going to love the new health management experience within the Zepp app. Let us know what you think! pic.twitter.com/rhMzUbDKXm
Zepp E comes in two different designs: Zepp E Circle and Zepp E Square. They’re essentially the same devices but they feature slightly different screen sizes and shapes. The Circle features a 1.28″ AMOLED display at 416×416 resolution while the Square features a larger 1.65″ AMOLED display at 348×442 resolution. Both designs are made on stainless steel but come with different band colors and materials. While both the Circle and Square offer a leather band in “Polar Night Black” or “Moon Grey” and a fluoroelastomer band in “Onyx Black”, the Square gets a unique “Deep Sea Blue” leather band, “Pebble Grey” fluoroelastomer band, and “Metallic Black Special Edition” while the Circle gets its own unique “Ice Blue” fluoroelastomer band and “Champagne Gold Special Edition.”
One of Zepp E’s headlining features is the ability to track a wearer’s sleep stages, including light sleep, deep sleep, Rapid Eye Movement (REM), and awake time. The devices can even monitor your naps. Zepp then provides users with a sleep score, which users can use to take actionable steps to improve their sleep quality.
Both smartwatches also come equipped with a heart-rate sensor, which is common among today’s biggest wearables. However, Zepp is trying to differentiate its devices by using the heart-rate sensor to provide wearers with information about stress. The company said this stress-monitoring feature will come in a future OTA upgrade.
The Zepp E series also features 11 sports modes, including walking, indoor and outdoor running, cycling, swimming, climbing, and more. The smartwatches are graded for up to 5 ATM of water resistance but don’t have GPS for location tracking.
Even with all the different sports modes and tracking abilities, Zepp promises up to 7 days of typical battery life with the Zepp E thanks to a 188mAh battery. They can last a bit longer (up to 15 days) with the basic watch mode, though. The smartwatches take about 2 hours to fully charge and are charged by connecting to the 2 Pin Pogo Pin connector on the magnetic charging base. This kind of battery life isn’t typical of Wear OS smartwatches, so you shouldn’t be surprised to hear that the Zepp E smartwatches run Zepp’s proprietary smartwatch OS. The OS offers five watch faces built-in, though more can be downloaded from the Zepp app.
There are a lot of wearables on the market, but the Zepp E series seem like solid options from a reputable company. It’s also nice that it comes in both square and circle designs, letting consumers choose their preferred style. Consumers can purchase the Zepp E series for $249 right now in the U.S. If you’re in the UK, the wearables will retail for £209 starting September 1.
T-Mobile yesterday unveiled a brand new lineup of affordable REVVL smartphones, including the REVVL 5G, the REVVL 4, and the REVVL 4+.
With many of today’s top 5G-equipped Android devices retailing for $999 or more, T-Mobile wants to offer something more accessible, so it’s offering the REVVL 5G for just $200 after 24 monthly bill credits if you switch or add a line. If you prefer, you can buy the device outright for just $399, which is comparable in price to some of today’s top mid-range handsets, including the Google Pixel 4a.
As for the REVVL 5G’s specs, it’s a decidedly mid-range affair:
That’s not a bad lineup of specs for a mid-range 5G device, especially one as affordable as this. But there are concerns about how often the REVVL 5G will be updated. How quickly will it get Android 11 when the software is released this fall? How often will it get security updates?
Either way, T-Mobile claims it offers the most coverage of 5G — more than AT&T and Verizon combined — making the REVVL 5G a great prospect for those curious about what 5G is all about. With a 4,500mAh battery, 6.53-inch FHD+ display, and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765 processor, the REVVL 5G should be more than capable of handling everyday tasks.
T-Mobile REVVL 5G
In addition to the REVVL 5G, T-Mobile also unveiled the REVVL 4 ($120) and REVVL 4+ ($192), a pair of affordable handsets without 5G support. Here are their specs:
REVVL 4+
Camera: 16MP + 5MP RFC with 16MP FFC
Battery: 4000 mAh
Color: Steel Gray
OS: Android 10
Screen: 6.52” 18:9 HD+ Display
RAM: 4GB
ROM: 64GB
Bands: 4G 2/4/5/12/25/26/41/66/71
Security: Face unlock and fingerprint sensor
Dimensions: 6.51” X 2.96” X 0.32”
Chipset: Qualcomm SD665
Processor: 1.8 GHz Octa-core
REVVL4
Camera: 13MP RFC with 5MP FFC
Battery: 3500 mAh
Color: Graphite
OS: Android 10
Screen: 6.22” 19:9 HD+ Display
RAM: 2GB
ROM: 32GB
Bands: 4G 2/4/5/7/12/25/26/41/66/71
Security: Face unlock and fingerprint sensor
Dimensions: 6.26” X 2.99” X 0.32”
Chipset: MediaTek MT6761V/CA
Processor: 2.0 GHz Quad-core
T-Mobile’s new REVVL line, including the REVVL 5G, will be available beginning September 4. T-Mobile’s Desmond Smith has already unboxed all 3 devices on T-Mobile’s YouTube channel, giving us our first look at the 3 devices. AndroidPolice reports that the IMEI shown on the REVVL 4 identifies it as the TCL 500W while the REVVL 4+ is identified as the TCL 5062W. The former is similar to the Alcatel A2X on TracFone’s Total Wireless while the latter is similar to the TCL 10L minus two cameras. The REVVL 5G is the odd one out, though it shares some similarities to the TCL 10 5G.
Do a Google search for “smartphones are boring” and you’ll find a handful of articles lamenting the state of smartphone design. 2020 has upended our expectations of what’s normal, though, with smartphone makers taking advantage of advancements in display tech to experiment with new form factors and designs. The industry seems to be trending toward smartphones with either under-display camera or foldable display tech, but Korean tech giant LG is experimenting with its own unique smartphone design. The company is rumored to be working on a smartphone called the “LG Wing,” an aptly named dual display smartphone with a secondary display that swivels horizontally behind the main display. Many in the media assumed that such an experimental smartphone will only launch in LG’s home market of South Korea, but we have now learned that LG plans to launch the Wing in the United States.
A source close to LG tells me that the LG Wing will launch in the U.S. this fall for around $1,000. That’s significantly cheaper than suggested by a recent report making the rounds from South Korean publication Herald Corp, which pegged the LG Wing at a price as high as ₩1,900,000, or ~$1,607 when converted to USD. Keep in mind that smartphone prices can’t be cleanly converted between markets because of differences in taxes, distribution, local market needs, carrier deals, etc. For example, here is a table comparing the starting prices of the LG Velvet, LG G8 ThinQ, LG V50 ThinQ, and Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra in Korea versus the starting prices of these same phones in the United States.
Smartphone
Starting Price in Korea/Converted to USD
Starting Price (Actual) in USA
LG Velvet
₩899,800 / ~$761
$599
LG G8 ThinQ
₩897,600 / ~ $759
$849
LG V50 ThinQ
₩1,199,000 / ~ $1,015
$999
Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra
₩1,450,000 / ~ $1,227
$1,299
As you can see, some of the U.S. models ended up being cheaper than their South Korean counterparts, but the opposite has also been true in some cases. The prices in South Korea include the VAT rate of 10%, and I’m told by some South Koreans that people in the country typically buy phones from carriers on contracts rather than buying them outright, much like in the United States. That’s why I recommend against converting South Korean launch pricing to U.S. launch pricing since the converted prices won’t always end up being accurate.
Our source can also confirm that the device that’s shown in videos published by AndroidAuthority is indeed the LG Wing. The publication earlier this week shared two videos recorded in a moving vehicle. The first video shared by AndroidAuthority shows the LG Wing’s two displays being used for navigation and controlling music playback; in that video, the primary display is shown in portrait orientation while the secondary display is in landscape orientation behind the primary one. The second videoAndroidAuthority shared earlier today shows a passenger playing a game on the main display while the secondary display shows what appears to be an in-game map; in that video, the passenger is holding the LG Wing with the secondary display on top.
These videos give us brief glimpses at the potential utility of the LG Wing’s dual screen design, though they, unfortunately, don’t show the actual swiveling mechanism in action. Regardless, we can piece together an understanding of what LG is trying to achieve with the Wing. The company is no stranger to dual screen phones—they offer a Dual Screen attachment for the V50, G8X, V60, and Velvet that receives input via signals sent over what’s essentially mmWave. LG’s Dual Screen attachment is a great way to expand the viewing area, and hence, the multitasking capability. However, because it’s an attachment, it becomes yet another thing that you have to carry around in your pocket or bag. Having a secondary display that’s always there when you need it would be much more convenient, though we’ll have to wait and see how LG engineered the Wing to determine how practical it actually is. How does the secondary display get stowed away, if at all? How thick is the phone with this display behind it? How does Android treat this display, and what, if anything, do app developers need to do to support it? These are all questions that can only be answered once we see more of the LG Wing, either from official sources or from leaks.
Fortunately, we won’t have to wait long to find out. Our source told us that the LG Wing is launching in the U.S. this fall, so we’ll only have to wait for up to 3 months before we see an announcement. When it lands in the U.S., it’ll cost around $1,000. We’ve seen evidence it’ll be supported by Verizon, but our source could not confirm this.
Our source also could not confirm any specifications, but earlier rumors suggest the LG Wing will fall in line with LG’s new “mass premium” market strategy. ETNews reports that the device will feature a 6.8-inch main display, a 4-inch secondary display, a triple camera setup comprised of a 64MP primary image sensor, and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 700 series processor with 5G capability, which means we can expect the Snapdragon 765, the Snapdragon 765G, or the Snapdragon 768G. Multiple Geekbench listings for a device with model name “LGE LM-F100N” and code-name “winglm” suggest the device will feature the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G in particular as the GPU is listed as the Adreno 620. Skipping the Snapdragon 865 would make sense if LG wants to keep the pricing down as they did for the LG Velvet.
I’m personally excited to see a smartphone company break the mold once again. My initial reaction to the LG Wing was to call it “crazy” and “weird”, but I’ll reserve final judgment until we see the phone in action.
