Latest Articles
LG Extends Warranty for Customers Affected By Bootloop Bugs
LG has settled arbitration claims stemming from a lawsuit over bootlooping devices. It's agreed to extend the warranty to 30 months for affected customers.
The long-running bootloop dispute against LG has come to an end. Ars Technica reports that the company has settled arbitration claims stemming from a lawsuit over faulty LG G4, LG V10, Nexus 5X, LG G5, and LG V20 smartphones.
Progressive Web Apps can be enabled on Desktop Chrome right now—here's how
The newest version of Chrome allows you to install Progressive Web Apps -- web apps designed with the flexibility of desktop apps in mind -- to your PC's desktop.
Apps on Chrome generally offer a good user experience, but they can be nightmares for developers who have to navigate the browser's proprietary APIs. Luckily, Google's moving to adopt a platform -- Progressive Web Apps -- that does away with many of the complexities, and it's supported in the latest stable version of Chrome.
Wine, the compatibility layer for Windows programs, is now available for Android
Wine 3.0, the newest version of the Windows compatibility layer for Unix-like operating systems, now supports Android devices.
Ever wish you could run full-blown Windows applications on your Android device? Now you can...sort of. Wine, a Windows compatibility layer for Unix-like operating systems, has been updated to version 3.0—and can now be installed on Android devices.
Less than 10% of Gmail users have Two-Factor Authentication Enabled
More than 90 percent of Gmail accounts don't have two-factor authentication (2FA) enabled, according to Google, and 10 percent of 2FA users have experienced problems using the SMS authentication codes sent to their phones.
If you don't use Gmail's two-factor authentication, you're not the only one. At the Usenix Enigma 2018 security conference this week, Google software engineer Grzegorz Milka revealed that more than 90 percent of active Gmail users havn't enabled two-factor authentication on their accounts, and that 10 percent of those who have activated it have had trouble figuring out how to use the SMS authentication codes sent to their phones.
Hangouts Meet Gains Support for Android Tablets and iPads
Google's Hangouts Meet, its G Suite conferencing platform for enterprise, was updated to support Android tablets and Apple iPads.
Google took the wraps off Hangouts Meet, an enterprise-centric version of its Hangouts chat platform, in March 2017. It's chock full of nifty features like meeting reminders and Google Drive integration, but ever since launch, it's lacked tablet support. The search giant rectified that longstanding shortcoming with a tablet-forward update for the Hangouts Meet app. Starting today, it's officially supported on Apple iPads and Android tablets.
MIUI 9.2 Global Stable ROM Brings Mi Drop, Mi Video, and Other New Apps to Xiaomi Phones
Xiaomi's MIUI 9.2 Global Stable ROM is chock full of new apps and features, and it's available for the Mi Mix 2, Redmi Note 4, Redmi 4, Redmi Y1, Redmi Y1 Lite, and Redmi 5A.
Xiaomi, the China-based company that's among the world's biggest smartphone brands, announced the newest version of its in-house Android skin, MIUI 9, in November 2017. Since then, it's rolled out to folks enrolled in the MIUI Global Beta, but some in the stable channel were kept waiting. That changed this week, though, with the debut of MIUI 9.2 Global Stable ROM.
Pro-tip: Add Shopping List Items to Google Keep by Threatening Google Assistant
The Google Assistant doesn't save shopping list items to Google Keep by default, but threatening it with a playful phrase gets it to change its tune.
The Google Assistant can preheat your smart oven, highlight your upcoming appointments, and shuffle through your favorite tunes. One of its most convenient features, though, is a shopping list accessible via voice (try saying, "OK Google, add milk to my shopping list"). The Assistant used to save items on that list in Google Keep, Google's cross-platform note-taking service, but moved them over to the Google Home and Google Express applications in April 2017. Turns out there's a way to force the old behavior, though, and it involves "threatening" the Assistant with a playful phrase.
Wi-Fi Direct Printing Might Come to Android in the Near Future
Support for Wi-Fi Direct printing might be coming to Android, if a recent Android Open Source Project is any indication.
Until recently, printer support in Android was pretty spotty. Google Cloud Print, a half-solution that routes print jobs through Google's servers, came to Android in 2013; Android KitKat added native printing; and the most recent version of Android, Oreo, folded Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) into Android's default print service. Android still lacks a way to print directly to Wi-Fi connected printers using Wi-Fi Direct, but that might be poised to change.
The Google Home has an undocumented local API that you can now access
Google Home, Google's lineup of smart home speakers, lacks a proper API. But an intrepid developer on Reddit pieced together unofficial documentation by sniffing local network traffic.
Google Home, Google's growing lineup of AI-powered speakers, offers a wealth of possibilities for smart home hobbyists. Problem is, it's locked down pretty tightly. When it comes accessing alarms data, settings, Bluetooth modes, and other on-device info, you've got two options: Checking the Google Home companion app on your smartphone and/or tablet, or shouting a command. As of right now, Google Home lacks a proper API.
Google Camera Port with Portrait Mode now works on Samsung Galaxy S7, S8, and Note 8 (Exynos)
A new version of the Google Camera mode brings portrait mode to Samsung Exynos-based such as the Galaxy S7, S8, and Note 8.
Popular ports of the Pixel 2's Google Camera bring Google's post-processing technologies to a wide range of high-end devices. It took a few iterations, but the most recent releases support lens blur, bokeh adjustment, and high-resolution video recording modes on phones such as the OnePlus 3, the Samsung Galaxy S8, and the LG V30.
XPrivacyLua is an Xposed Module that Protects Your Data
XPrivacyLua, an Xposed module that's compatible with Android 6.0 Marshmallow and newer, protects your privacy by feeding apps fake or nonsense data.
If you've ever mistakenly downloaded an application you didn't trust with your data, you might have stumbled upon XPrivacy. It's an Xposed module that protects your privacy by feeding applications fake data or no data at all, or by restricting applications from accessing data categories such as contacts and location. It doesn't revoke or block applications' permissions (with the exception of internet and storage access), so most apps don't misbehave or crash when they're denied access. And it shows handy icons when applications request permissions, connect to the internet, or attempt to access sensitive data. But XPrivacy's only compatible with Android versions 4.0.3 - 5.1.1, and it hasn't been updated in six months. That's why XDA Recognized Developer M66B released XPrivacyLua, a spiritual successor to XPrivacy that's written in Lua and compatible with Android 6.0 Marshmallow and newer. It's currently in alpha, but already available from the Xposed Module Repository and Github. As long as you've installed the Xposed framework, you're good to give a test drive.
Google Assistant Comes to Tablets, Android 5.0 Lollipop Devices
The Google Assistant is coming to more devices. It's rolling out to Android tablets and Lollipop 5.0 smartphones starting December.
The Google Assistant is coming to more devices. In a blog post on Wednesday, Google announced that its eponymous personal assistant will hit tablets and Android devices running 5.0 Lollipop and newer "in the coming weeks."
Qualcomm Hexagon 685 DSP is a Boon for Machine Learning
Qualcomm's Snapdragon 845 packs a powerful machine learning chip inside. It's called the Hexagon 685 DSP, and it's a major step forward in AI hardware.
The Snapdragon 845 - the newest system-on-chip in Qualcomm's Snapdragon family - is a powerhouse of a processor. It boasts speedy CPU cores, a third-generation Spectra image signal processor (ISP), and an architecture that’s 30 percent more power-efficient than the previous generation. But arguably its most impressive component is a co-processor -- the Hexagon 685 DSP -- that's tailor made for artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Qualcomm Makes the Snapdragon 845 Official, Talks 5G
At the 2017 Snapdragon Developer Conference in Maui, Hawaii, Qualcomm took the wraps off its next-gen flagship processor: The Snapdragon 845.
It's finally official: At the 2017 Snapdragon Developer Conference in Maui, Hawaii, Qualcomm took the wraps off the Snapdragon 845, the newest flagship in its 10-year-old Snapdragon system-on-chip series. The San Jose, California-based company wasn't willing to spill all of the beans just yet -- it's hosting a talk exclusively about the Snapdragon 845 on Wednesday -- but it gave a tantalizing glimpse of its latest and greatest chip on Tuesday.
Google Launches Android Go, an Android Config for Low-End Devices
Alongside Android 8.1 Oreo, Google debuted Android Go, a lightweight version of its Android operating system that's optimized for low-end devices. Read on!
Google introduced Android Go, a version of Android Oreo optimized for low-end devices, at its 2017 Google I/O developer conference in May. Mum's been the word since then, but on Tuesday, the search giant took the wraps off the finalized version of Android Go as part of Android 8.1 Oreo's rollout.