Posts From Mishaal Rahman

Mishaal Rahman
Mishaal Rahman

I am the Editor-in-chief of XDA. In addition to breaking news on the Android OS and mobile devices, I manage all editorial and reviews content on the Portal. Tips/media inquiries: [email protected]

Google is working on improving game controller rumble, possibly for Android 12

Google is working on improving game controller rumble, possibly for Android 12

January 20, 2021
With mobile and cloud gaming on the rise, Google is looking to finally improve the controller rumble situation on Android. Currently, if you connect a game controller to your Android device either via USB or via Bluetooth, chances are it won't vibrate like it would when playing on a console. That's because Android only provides...
Samsung is rolling out updated Good Lock modules with support for One UI 3

Samsung is rolling out updated Good Lock modules with support for One UI 3

January 20, 2021
One of the most common reasons that people root their device is to unlock additional UI customizations. Most OEMs don't offer a lot of UI customizations in their software, but Samsung is a notable exception. Through Good Lock, a suite of Samsung-made apps called "modules" that lets users customize various aspects of Samsung's One UI...
LG may be leaving the smartphone business in 2021

LG may be leaving the smartphone business in 2021

January 20, 2021
Last week, Korean publication The Elec published an article claiming that LG Electronics notified its employees that it was shutting down its smartphone business. That allegedly included halting development on the company's rollable smartphone which they previously said will be launching later this year. However, LG's Head of Global Corporate Communications, Ken Hong, told XDA...
Samsung kills MST: the US Galaxy S21 won’t support Samsung Pay’s best payment method

Samsung kills MST: the US Galaxy S21 won’t support Samsung Pay’s best payment method

January 20, 2021
The Galaxy S21 series was announced by Samsung earlier today, and many were surprised to see the lack of expandable storage in the official spec sheet. Users will be doubly disappointed to hear that one of Samsung's best technologies, MST, isn't available on the Galaxy S21 in the U.S. MST, which stands for Magnetic Secure...
Nearby Share may let you share your WiFi password on Android 12

Nearby Share may let you share your WiFi password on Android 12

January 19, 2021
When you want to share your WiFi password with a lot of people, it can quickly become tedious to do so. Telling people the password is one option, but that gives you less control over who and what devices can connect to your network (and it also pushes you to use a simpler password). Typing...
Google adds a Restricted Networking Mode in Android 12

Google adds a Restricted Networking Mode in Android 12

January 19, 2021
With the first Android 12 Developer Preview expected to go live next month, there's still a lot we don't know about Google's next major OS update. Digging through the Android Open Source Project can only reveal so much given that the bulk of Android 12's codebase isn't public. Still, we sometimes see evidence for new...
Android 12 may let you hibernate unused apps to free up space

Android 12 may let you hibernate unused apps to free up space

January 19, 2021
It may be hard to believe, but we're likely only a little over a month away from the release of the first Android 12 Developer Preview. After all, the first Android 11 Developer Preview was released back in February of 2020! We've been scouring the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) Gerrit for hints of new...
Google reportedly requires new Android TV devices support AV1 video decoding

Google reportedly requires new Android TV devices support AV1 video decoding

January 16, 2021
With there being many different hardware companies making smartphones, tablets, televisions, PCs, and silicon; software companies making apps and operating systems; and media giants making streaming services, it's important for key industry players to agree to support certain video coding formats to ensure the best user experience, minimize network use, and support a wide variety...
Google’s TalkBack screen reader is getting new features available first on Galaxy phones

Google’s TalkBack screen reader is getting new features available first on Galaxy phones

January 16, 2021
Google has partnered with Samsung to create a new version of TalkBack, an accessibility service that provides spoken feedback of what's shown or happening on screen. TalkBack was released in the early days of Android, but in 2018, Google rolled it into the Android Accessibility Suite app alongside other services aimed at helping users with...
Google cracks down on 3rd-party Chromium browsers using Chrome Sync

Google cracks down on 3rd-party Chromium browsers using Chrome Sync

January 15, 2021
If you are using a third-party Chromium-based browser with Chrome Sync, then you'll be disappointed to learn that Google is cracking down on this practice. In a short blog post published on the Chromium Blog, Google announced that it will limit access to its private Chrome APIs starting on March 15, 2021. These APIs are used...
The Galaxy S21 lets you remove GPS location data before sharing a photo

The Galaxy S21 lets you remove GPS location data before sharing a photo

January 15, 2021
If you missed Galaxy Unpacked yesterday, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S21 series, a trio of smartphones with the latest Qualcomm or Samsung-made 5nm chipset and Android 11-based One UI 3.0 software. As always, Samsung's latest and greatest smartphone series comes with new features that are (for now) exclusive to them. We've talked about a few...
The Galaxy S21’s new Object Eraser feature can remove people from photos

The Galaxy S21’s new Object Eraser feature can remove people from photos

January 14, 2021
At Galaxy Unpacked, Samsung took the wraps off of its Galaxy S21 flagship smartphones. Samsung's latest flagships run the company's Android 11-based One UI 3.0 software, which has already rolled out to many of the company's previous flagships. But the Galaxy S21 is the first to get one of Samsung's latest features called "Object Eraser." When...