Archive

2016 in Review: What was the Best Smartwatch of 2016?

2016 in Review: What was the Best Smartwatch of 2016?

December 26, 2016
As we enter the final days of the year, it's time to get your opinion on all the events, news, releases and controversies that we witnessed so far in 2016. Moving on from flagships, midrange and budget smartphones, we move our discussion over to smartwatches. We didn't see too many smartwatches this year as users re-evaluated...
Report: LG Plans to Make LG G6 Available Earlier to Avoid Competition

Report: LG Plans to Make LG G6 Available Earlier to Avoid Competition

December 26, 2016
LG failed to excite consumers with the LG G5 despite the massive push made towards (pseudo-)modularity. Furthermore, the LG V20 failed to shoulder the responsibility of carrying LG this fiscal year. Despite the failure of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, LG has thus far not been able to effectively capitalize on Samsung's misfortunes. With the new year approaching, however, LG...
Opinion: The Problem with Default Launchers and Why OEMs Should Take Pointers from Alternatives like Nova

Opinion: The Problem with Default Launchers and Why OEMs Should Take Pointers from Alternatives like Nova

December 26, 2016
On my desk, I have a multitude of devices from different manufacturers, with different price tags and some running vastly different software. They all have one thing in common, and that’s their homescreen setup. The homescreen is undoubtedly one of the most essential components of the Android experience; from the most casual of users to the...
Some Nexus 6P Users are now Experiencing Random Bootloops

Some Nexus 6P Users are now Experiencing Random Bootloops

December 25, 2016
The Google Nexus 6P, to the dismay of many Android enthusiasts, is the last device in the Nexus lineup. With some of the most impressive specifications at the time of its launch, the device was able to hold its own against 2016 flagships especially among those who prefer running the latest version of stock Android. However, though many...
2016 in Review: What was the Best Budget Smartphone of 2016?

2016 in Review: What was the Best Budget Smartphone of 2016?

December 24, 2016
As we enter the final days of the year, it's time to get your opinion on all the events, news, releases and controversies that we witnessed so far in 2016. Our first discussion was regarding your opinion on the best flagship of the year, followed by your opinion on the best midrange smartphone. Now we will shift focus on...
China’s Fluctuating Mobile Market And Future Trends

China’s Fluctuating Mobile Market And Future Trends

December 24, 2016
China's mobile market is by a comfortable margin the largest in the world, with over 1.3 billion monthly mobile subscribers across the three carriers. It is understandable then that short term trends and fashions can have a huge effect on the incomes of OEMs and the market as a whole. If are unfamiliar with the Oppo...
The Death of CyanogenMod and What it Means for Development

The Death of CyanogenMod and What it Means for Development

December 24, 2016
Cyanogen Inc. has finally delivered a bullet to the brain - of CyanogenMod. After years of tumultuous turnovers in the company, Cyanogen recently announced that the company would consolidate all of their efforts into a new Cyanogen Modular OS program. As a part of their consolidation, the company announced that many of their employees, including Cyanogen (Steve Kondik) himself,...
2016 in Review: What was the Best Midrange Smartphone of 2016?

2016 in Review: What was the Best Midrange Smartphone of 2016?

December 23, 2016
As we enter the final days of the year, it's time to get your opinion on all the events, news, releases and controversies that we witnessed so far in 2016. Our last discussion was on your opinion on the best flagship of the year, but its time to cover other bases. Mid range smartphones usually see...
iFixit Ranks 2016’s Smartphones in Order of Repairability

iFixit Ranks 2016’s Smartphones in Order of Repairability

December 23, 2016
Just like we enjoy having full control of the software in our smartphones, some of us at XDA also prefer to do our own device repairs as well. When a new smartphone or tablet gets torn down by iFixit, you typically see us writing about it. Not only is it interesting to us, but we...
SuperSU v2.79 SR1 is Available, Focuses on SELinux Changes for Nougat

SuperSU v2.79 SR1 is Available, Focuses on SELinux Changes for Nougat

December 23, 2016
Yesterday, Chainfire announced the first update after version 2.78 of SuperSU was made stable. As we've mentioned before, the SR updates are basically a different name for beta versions of SuperSU. The name change was put into place as an attempt at reducing the number of people trying to upload beta releases to non-Google Play app...
Tasker v4.9 is out with Non-Root Programmable Firewall, Multi-Window Automation, S-Pen Recognition, and More

Tasker v4.9 is out with Non-Root Programmable Firewall, Multi-Window Automation, S-Pen Recognition, and More

December 22, 2016
It's no secret that we at XDA are big fans of Tasker. We've covered the application and its capabilities multiple times in the past and have demonstrated that the potential uses of Tasker are limitless thanks to its extensive plug-in framework. Tasker has become so robust over the years that development on the application has slowed...
2016 in Review: What was the Best Flagship Smartphone of 2016?

2016 in Review: What was the Best Flagship Smartphone of 2016?

December 22, 2016
As we enter the final days of the year, it's time to get your opinion on all the events, news, releases and controversies that we witnessed so far in 2016. This year saw some great releases by OEMs big and small. Some smartphones took a gamble to differentiate themselves from the crowd, while some played it...