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Zero Camera Mod Enables 1440p Video Recording at 60FPS on the Galaxy S8 and S8+
Zero Camera Mod for the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8+ enables the camera to recording video at 1440p resolution and 60 frames per second.
The hardware in our smartphones is generally capable of more than what the company enables via the software. OEMs hold back these feature for a number of reasons but the developer community is great at unleashing that power. XDA Senior Member zeroprobe has been working on the Zero Camera Mod for the Galaxy S8 and S8+ since June and its latest update brings 1440p video recording at 60 frames per second. Other features available here include 4K HDR photos, autofocus tracking for all modes, no recording time limits and more.
ASUS Zenfone 5 Receives Android Oreo Alpha ROM
Check out this early Android Oreo alpha ROM for the ASUS Zenfone 5. While a lot of key functionality isn't working at the moment, it's still a great start!
Android enthusiasts around the world have Oreo fever now that Google has announced the name and released the source code for the new update. Millions of people are now looking to their OEMs for details about when their device will receive the official update. Enthusiasts however, are looking to custom ROM developers and wondering the same. We recently brought attention to a new Oreo ROM for the Xiaomi Mi 3 and Mi 4 (Cancro), and today we want to do the same for the ASUS Zenfone 5.
LG Details the 32-bit Advanced Hi-Fi Quad DAC Used in the LG V30
Continuing the trend of focusing on audio quality of the V series, LG has detailed the changes that have been made to the DAC used in the LG V30.
LG's previous and older flagship series, the G series used to be the best the company could offer to the smartphone market. A couple of years ago they launched a new flagship series, the V series, and with it they were able to offer a bit more. The V series from LG has been marketed as one that is designed for media makers (with its focus on camera and microphone quality) as well as media consumers (with the enhanced DAC they use). Early this morning the company published a blog post that details the HiFi quad DAC they'll be using in the LG V30.
How to Change the SMS Limit on Android Without Root
With a couple ADB shell commands, we can change the default SMS limit that Android imposes (which is 30 messages in 30 minutes) without root access.
Android does a number of things to keep you protected. A lot of the user-facing security features for applications and games has recently been rebranded to Google Play Protect, but most (if not all) has already been included in Android for years. Still, there are a number of limitations that Android puts on the user in order to keep us safe and to look out for us in general. With SMS messages costing a lot of money in various places around the world, the software has a couple of built-in restrictions in place to prevent abusive apps from costing you money.
How to Set a WiFi Network as Metered on Huawei or Honor Devices
With a couple of simple ADB shell commands, we can set any saved WiFi network on a Huawei or Honor device as either metered or non-metered.
A growing number of home broadband internet service providers are putting monthly download caps on their service. Some, such as Comcast, will let you pay $50 a month more to be able to ignore their 1TB/month data cap, but others don't offer this and have a much lower limit with their service. Wireless customers have been dealing with data caps for years and that is why Android automatically treats a mobile data connection as metered. Most Android devices let you set a WiFi network as metered, but for some reason Huawei hides this user-facing feature.
Pixel Launcher 2.0 from Android Oreo Available for Non-Rooted Devices
An updated port of the Pixel Launcher is now available which was built from Android Oreo's Launcher3 with some extra features added on top.
A couple of months ago we covered a port of the Pixel Launcher that was made available for devices which weren't able to install it from the Play Store. This port continued to be updated throughout the month but Reddit user AmirZ said they would come back and do another once Android Oreo was released to the public. With that happening earlier this week, we thought it would take longer for this update to come out but luckily that wasn't the case and version 2.0 of the launcher is now available.
Android Oreo ROM Available for the Xiaomi Mi 3 and Mi 4 (Cancro)
XDA Senior Member vasishath has put together an early build of Android Oreo for the Xiaomi Mi 3 and the Mi 4 that was built from AOSP.
It's been a big week for Android enthusiasts. Not only did we see the official launch of the Galaxy Note 8, but Google jumped out ahead of Samsung to announce the next version of Android. Even after all of the teasing that has happened over the years, the new version turned out to be Android Oreo. Shortly after the release, the company uploaded the AOSP source code and for many it was off to the races. Individual builders began working on builds for their device and a reader quickly uploaded their screenshot of it running on their Mi 5S Plus.
Android Oreo Introduces Built-in Print Service for Printers that Support the IPP
Google has partnered with Mopria to include their printer service technology in the new Android Oreo update to support the Internet Printing Protocol.
When printers first started being used with consumer PCs, it was often an incredibly frustrating to get the device connected properly. Drivers were often broken, the user interface was unintuitive and just resulted in a hassle anytime you needed to print something from your computer. This has been alleviated in recent years with wireless printers and even the work that Google has done with its Google Cloud Print service. Still, it could always be easier and this is why Android Oreo's default printer service is using technology that was contributed to AOSP by Mopria.
Android Oreo Plays Beeping Notification Sounds in Phone Calls, Annoying Many
Multiple reports have surfaced a new feature of Android Oreo that plays notifications sounds in the earpiece speaker when you're in a phone call.
Not everyone installs Google's developer preview builds for the next version of Android. Each one generally brings a number of changes and discovering these new features can be quite enjoyable for some of us within the community. One such change happened in the 4th developer preview and it allowed notification sounds to play through the earpiece speaker when you're in the middle of a phone call. Some had hoped this was just a bug and would be removed, but it looks like it made its way into the first release of Android Oreo.
Android Oreo Source Code Uploaded to AOSP by Google
Google has uploaded the Android Oreo source code to AOSP so community developers can get their hands dirty on custom ROMs and kernels.
It's been a big week for the Android community as Google has officially announced the name of its brand new update. Android 8.0 Oreo is something that many people didn't think they would hear even though a lot of people hoped they would. The system images for Android Oreo are already available so you can download them for your supported Nexus or Pixel device right now and manually flash it to your device. We've also noticed that Google has uploaded the Android Oreo source code last night to AOSP as well.
Android Oreo System Apps Can Set Volume Key Long-Press Listeners
Thanks to a new permission implemented in Android Oreo, system applications are now able to set up listeners to detect long-presses of the volume-keys.
Adding additional functionality to various hardware and software buttons on our devices is something Android enthusiasts have been doing for a while. Most people know about applications such as Button Mapper from XDA Recognized Developer flar2, and we even spoke about other remapper solutions back when the Galaxy S8 was released. While those solutions handled these actions in a certain way, Google looks to be implementing a listener in Android Oreo for long-pressing the volume keys. This means that potentially, applications in the future might be able to react to volume key long presses even while the screen is off, which could be used to bring an often-requested feature over from custom ROMs - music track control with volume key presses.
Ambient Display Always On Mode Shows up in AOSP
More evidence to the fact that Google is working on an always on Ambient Display feature for Android has been discovered in the source code.
Just a couple of years ago when LG released the LG G5 and Samsung released the Galaxy S7, we saw a push for an always on display feature. LG's implementation wasn't as efficient since it was using an LCD panel instead of AMOLED, but it still showed that this was a feature OEMs were wanting to push, even on LCD panels. Then last month we discovered some evidence that Google had been working on an always on Ambient Display mode for the Pixel with its Android O developer preview 3 build.
Android Oreo Saves Devices in Bootloops with new Rescue Party Feature
A new Android Oreo feature called Rescue Party will automatically attempt to fix a crash/reboot bootloop that is detected by your smartphone or tablet.
Most of the new features of Android Oreo has been known about since the company released its first developer preview for Android O. We've been talking about the new features here on XDA for months and yet there are always new goodies to be discovered once the full update is released. One of these new features is called the Rescue Party and its goal is to help you to recover an Android Oreo smartphone or tablet that has run into bootloop issues.
Android 8.0 Oreo System Images Available for Supported Pixel and Nexus Devices
Google has just released Android Oreo and OTAs will start rolling out soon. In the mean time, you can get the official system images right now!
In a surprising turn of events, Google revealed the next version of Android will be called Oreo. This is interesting because they've teased it so much up until now, that some felt it was the company trolling us, and that it had to have been something else. Still, today is the day that Android Oreo has been named and it's also the day that the next version of Android is released to the public. OTA updates are not going out just yet, but the system images for supported Pixel and Nexus devices have been released!
Chrome OS Gets its Own Product Type for Chromecast
A new commit to the Chromium Gerrit page shows that Chrome OS will now get its own product type as a standalone product for the Chromecast ecosystem.
Chromecast started out as a side project for Google that quickly turned into the best selling hardware device the company sells. Over 3.8 million were sold in the first 12 months it was launched and last year at Google I/O we learned that the company had sold over 25 million units since its inception (and is now up to 30 million). With its success, you would think that Google would be paying more attention to the small details surrounding this product.
Custom Status Bar, Nav Bar, and Quick Setting Icons on any Samsung Nougat Device
A new Substratum theme for Samsung Nougat brings custom status bar, nav bar, and quick setting icons among more features to Samsung 7.0+ devices.
With the ability to use Substratum on Samsung devices (called Sungstratum) without it requiring root access, we're starting to see more new themes crop up that are specifically for these devices running Android 7.0 Nougat. A new and open source theme from XDA Senior Member OhayouBaka called StatusBar Icons should work on any Samsung Nougat device. With it installed, you can get custom status bar icons, the status bar clock font, quick settings icons, and navigation bar icons to use the icons from AOSP that are found on the Google Nexus and Pixel devices.
Magisk Module Enables the Camera2API
A new Magisk Module enables the Camera2API on your smartphone so that you can use the recently ported Google Camera application with HDR+ capabilities.
We recently saw a port of the Google Camera for newer Snapdragon devices that allows HDR+ to work on them. However, for this to work, camera2api needs to be enabled since it's dependant on that API. You could do this with a build.prop edit, or you could install a new Magisk Module from XDA Senior Member otaconremo. This module requires Magisk version 13 and up and can be installed through Magisk Manager, or flashing it in TWRP. Afterwards, you can run the "getprop | grep camera" command in a terminal and look for "persist.camera.HAL3.enabled 1" to make sure it works properly.
The SELinux Switch is a New Tool for Toggling SELinux Between Enforcing and Permissive
The SELinux Switch is a new application from XDA Senior Member Ibuprophen that lets you change the SELinux mod without modifying the boot script files.
Some applications and modifications for Android require that SELinux be set to Permissive instead of Enforcing. Many who want this on their phone or tablet likely know of an alternative called SELinuxModeChanger or The SELinux Toggler. So XDA Senior Member Ibuprophen came out with a new tool called The SELinux Switch that lets you change a device's SELinux state without having to permanently modify the boot script files. So your device will still boot with SELinux in Enforcing mode, but will then automatically launch and change the devices SELinux Mode after the boot process is completed.
New Gear Fit 2 Pro and Gear VR Rumored to be Launched on August 23rd
Samsung is rumored to launch a new Gear Fit 2 Pro fitness smartwatch and a new Gear VR alongside the Galaxy Note 8 later this month.
August 23rd will be a big day for Samsung as the company has been scheduled to launch their H2 flagship, the Galaxy Note 8. We've heard a lot about the device so far with leaked renders and a list of specs as well. Samsung isn't known to only have one big announcement when a device is launched though. Sometimes it's additional hardware, other times it's new software features. So it makes sense that a new rumor claims the South Korean conglomerate is readying the launch of a new Gear Fit 2 Pro and Gear VR headset.
Magisk Beta v13.5 Update Adds Busybox for Internal Use, Samsung Kernel Workarounds and More
A new update to the Magisk beta channel is out that brings its version up to 13.5 and includes Busybox for internal use, Samsung kernel workarounds & more.
Last month we saw XDA Recognized Contributor and Developer topjohnwu release a new stable update of Magisk. This was version 13.3 which allowed it to bypass Google's latest SafetyNet restrictions and added a scrolling log screen feature to Magisk Manager. Since then, a lot of work has gone into the new beta update and this is available to the public right now. This new beta update was released on August 12, and focuses on improving stability and compatibility for devices.