Posts by Kyle Wiggers- XDA Developers

The History of Printing on Android and how the Mopria Alliance made it better

Kyle Wiggers May 7, 2018

Prior to the debut of Android 8.0 Oreo's Default Print Service, printing documents on Android was easier said than done. Google's mobile operating system didn't gain native printer support until Android 4.4 KitKat, and with the exception of third-party solutions from the likes of Samsung, setting up a printer required vendor-specific plugins and drivers. But...

LG G7 ThinQ Hands-on: Improvements where it matters

Kyle Wiggers May 2, 2018

By all accounts, the LG G7 ThinQ has had a troubled history. The Korean company's mobile division intended to launch the flagship at Mobile World Congress 2018 in March, reportedly, but put the breaks on plans after LG chief Jo Seong-jin ordered the team to "[start] from scratch" and find a "strong[er] selling point". For a...

The LG G7 ThinQ will have a 6.1-inch QHD 19:5:9 display that reaches 1,000 Nit

Kyle Wiggers April 25, 2018

If the rumors are to be believed, little about the upcoming LG G7 ThinQ remains a mystery. A series of leaked renders recently revealed that LG's flagship will have a dedicated button for the Google Assistant, a display notch (a la the Essential Phone) that can be hidden with a toggle, and high-end audio in...

Motorola Moto G6, Moto G6 Play, Moto E5 Play, and Moto E5 Plus First Impressions

Kyle Wiggers April 19, 2018

Motorola, the Chicago-based subsidiary of Lenovo, stumbled upon a winning strategy with the Moto E and Moto G series. The mid-to-low-tier smartphones remain incredibly popular in developing markets such as India, where the company has shipped more than six million units to date. But they're also a top seller in the U.S., where they're subsidized...

The Best Mods for the Galaxy Note 8

Kyle Wiggers April 12, 2018

It goes without saying that the Galaxy Note 8, the newest in Samsung's long-running device lineup, is one of the best smartphones on the market -- especially if you've got a thing for styluses. The whopping 6.3-inch phablet sports a capable Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor paired with 6GB of RAM, dual 12MP rear cameras, and...

Qualcomm Announces The Vision Intelligence Platform, A Pair of Chipsets Designed For IoT Devices

Kyle Wiggers April 11, 2018

Chipmaker Qualcomm is undoubtedly best known for its Snapdragon series, but there's more to the company's portfolio than smartphone-optimized system-on-chips (SoCs). Take its Internet of Things lineup, for example: in January, it announced the Home Hub Platform, designed with smart home speakers, screens, and all-in-one devices in mind. And on Wednesday, it took the wraps...

Get Pixel 2 Features On Any Android

Kyle Wiggers April 9, 2018

The Google Pixel 2 is a fantastic smartphone by any measure. It's got a speedy Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 system-on-chip, premium materials, and one of the best smartphone cameras around. But as it turns out, you don't need to shell out for a new phone to get some of the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL's...

ZTE Axon M: Laying the groundwork for a foldable phone future

Kyle Wiggers April 3, 2018

When ZTE released the Axon M in late 2017, a smartphone with two identical displays and a hinge that folds shut like an inverse notebook, tech pundits dismissed it as gimmicky and uncompetitive. It isn’t the first dual-screen smartphone with a foldable form factor—the Kyocera Echo, Sony Tablet P, and the NEC Medias, the Axon...

Always-listening Hotword Recognition without power drain may soon come to Android apps with TrulyHandsfree

Kyle Wiggers April 3, 2018

Ever wonder how smartphones such as the Huawei Mate 9 respond to Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant commands ("Alexa", "OK, Google") even when the screen is switched off and locked? It's thanks to a hardware component called a DSP, or digital signal processor, a dedicated audio chip that handles low-power, always-on phrase detection (and other...

Google will start removing Chrome extensions with cryptocurrency mining scripts

Kyle Wiggers April 2, 2018

Despite new regulatory hurdles and a market downturn, the adoption of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin shows no sign of slowing down. In fact, it has given rise to a cottage industry: cryptocurrency mining, or the process of validating transactions and obtaining cryptocurrency in return. Those transactions become more computationally intensive over time. These days, mining...

Chrome OS prepares to support ARCore for augmented reality apps

Kyle Wiggers March 28, 2018

ARCore, Google's augmented reality development platform for Android, is software-based. Unlike the Mountain View company's ill-fated Project Tango, it doesn't require special hardware or sensors in order to map the depth of surroundings and project digital objects onto real-world surfaces. As a result, it's compatible with a growing range of devices. (ARCore for All, an...

How to see what hidden APIs apps are using in Android P

Kyle Wiggers March 27, 2018

In late February, we spotted commits in the Android Open Source Code suggesting that Google would restrict applications from accessing undocumented/hidden APIs in the Android software development kit (SDK). The search giant later confirmed those changes; in Android P, API restrictions have expanded to cover Java language interfaces of the SDK, starting with rarely-used interfaces...