Posts From Aamir Siddiqui

Aamir Siddiqui
Aamir Siddiqui

I am a tech journalist with XDA since 2015, while being a qualified business-litigation lawyer with experience in the field. A low-end smartphone purchase in 2011 brought me to the forums, and it's been a journey filled with custom ROMs ever since. When not fully dipped in smartphone news, I love traveling to places just to capture pictures of the sun setting. You can reach out to me at [email protected]

Android 12 includes a permission management hub, but its not intended for users

Android 12 includes a permission management hub, but its not intended for users

February 19, 2021
Android 12 "Snow Cone" will be the flavor of the rest of this month, with Developer Preview 1 giving us our first official taste of the upcoming dessert OS update. We've spotted many changes in our Developer Preview 1 Hands-On, but there are even more hidden treats all through the update. One of these is...
Android 12 is here with its first Developer Preview and a lot of changes for developers

Android 12 is here with its first Developer Preview and a lot of changes for developers

February 18, 2021
The Android operating system has been around for years now, and it's become the dominant OS for mobile devices. While Android as a platform has definitely matured over the years, there's always room for some improvement. And improve it will, as Google is now releasing the first version of its next upgrade, Android 12. Android...
[Update: Rejected] Proposed North Dakotan bill aims to dismantle Apple and Google’s app store and payment monopolies

[Update: Rejected] Proposed North Dakotan bill aims to dismantle Apple and Google’s app store and payment monopolies

February 17, 2021
This might just be the year that Apple's walled garden ecosystem gets some doors, windows, and a breath of fresh air. A bill proposed in the North Dakota Senate in the USA seeks to ban digital stores like the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store from exercising a distribution monopoly and force third-party...
Realme X7 Pro Hands-on: Don’t sleep on MediaTek flagships

Realme X7 Pro Hands-on: Don’t sleep on MediaTek flagships

February 9, 2021
Realme entered the smartphone scene a few years ago, but in the past few years, it has recorded some exceptional growth across the globe. While a good majority of its smartphones target the budget and mid-ranges, Realme also frequently dabbles in making affordable flagships and upper mid-range smartphones. The Realme X7 Pro launched in China...
Huawei’s Harmony OS 2.0 beta appears to be based on Android

Huawei’s Harmony OS 2.0 beta appears to be based on Android

February 2, 2021
Harmony OS is Huawei's own first-party operating system, meant to take over the reins as the company's current GMS-less Android software proves to be insufficient to propel the company's smartphone prospects. Huawei recently began its long-shot transition away from the GMS-less Android with the first Harmony OS 2.0 beta for select smartphones and tablets. But...
Honor confirms it isn’t affected by U.S. trade bans like Huawei

Honor confirms it isn’t affected by U.S. trade bans like Huawei

January 29, 2021
In November 2020, after months and months of holding strong, Huawei finally relented and sold off Honor as an independent brand to a consortium of agents and dealers. This split allowed Honor to enter into partnerships with MediaTek, Qualcomm, and many others, something it could not do as long as it stuck along with Huawei....
These are the best cases, covers and skins for the regular Galaxy Note 20 in January 2021

These are the best cases, covers and skins for the regular Galaxy Note 20 in January 2021

January 28, 2021
The Galaxy Note 20 series is one of the more attention-worthy releases from 2020, and the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is clearly the star of the show here. But the Note 20 Ultra also costs a pretty penny, so a lot of users would prefer spending lesser and getting the Galaxy Note 20 instead. If you've...
[Update: Merged] Google prepares to decouple new emojis from Android system updates

[Update: Merged] Google prepares to decouple new emojis from Android system updates

January 26, 2021
Emojis have become an integral part of our informal expression. These tiny graphical assets add emotions, intention, and character to mere words. The frequent addition of new emojis to the Unicode standard is testimony to their popularity. Whenever Unicode gets new emojis, we need to wait for an OS upgrade to reach our phones to...
Genshin Impact v1.3 update brings along a free 4-star character, new boss, Tower Defense minigame and more

Genshin Impact v1.3 update brings along a free 4-star character, new boss, Tower Defense minigame and more

January 23, 2021
Genshin Impact is a pretty amazing game, inarguably one of the best games out there. Whether you are a beginner just starting off, or an advanced player grinding away, whether you are someone who regularly purchases in-game items, or whether you are staunchly a free-to-play player -- the game has enough content to keep everyone...
Google Duo may shut down in April for uncertified Android devices

Google Duo may shut down in April for uncertified Android devices

January 22, 2021
We recently reported on new strings found within the Google Messages app that suggested that the app would stop working on uncertified Android devices from April 2021. It seems that Google Duo may also be joining this list, as new strings within the app's latest update suggest a similar shut down for April for the...
Google threatens to pull out Search from Australia over upcoming law

Google threatens to pull out Search from Australia over upcoming law

January 22, 2021
It's difficult to even imagine a life without Google Search, so much so that even the word "google" as a verb has become synonymous with searching for information on the internet. But for the people in Australia, they might have to consider such a future, as an upcoming law that requires Google to pay for...
Realme is making a pair of flagship 5G phones with the latest Qualcomm and MediaTek chips

Realme is making a pair of flagship 5G phones with the latest Qualcomm and MediaTek chips

January 21, 2021
It's been a fair few weeks since Realme last launched a smartphone, so we do expect a bunch of releases right around the corner. The new year has brought along new processor releases as well, and it's just about expected that the Chinese company would leverage the new SoCs in new phones. If you are...