Posts From Zachary Wander

Zachary Wander
Zachary Wander 23 posts

I write articles and develop apps for XDA. I'm also the developer of SystemUI Tuner.

Google’s CameraX Android API will let third-party apps use the best features of the stock camera

Google’s CameraX Android API will let third-party apps use the best features of the stock camera

March 29, 2020
There's a long-running joke on the Internet that you can tell if someone's using an Android phone by the bad quality of their selfies. While the memes are definitely exaggerating quite a bit, there's, unfortunately, a bit of truth behind them. Android phones have usually been ahead of iPhones in terms of camera performance, at...
Tronsmart Spunky Beat Review – A huge improvement in a small package

Tronsmart Spunky Beat Review – A huge improvement in a small package

March 5, 2020
It's been nearly four years since Apple ditched the headphone jack (yes, Moto did it first, no one cares). Many companies (including those who conveniently dropped the headphone jack from their own devices) have come out with wireless earbud and headphone options. We're here to talk about one such option from one such company: the...
Android 11 will harden hidden API restrictions and remove meta-reflection bypass

Android 11 will harden hidden API restrictions and remove meta-reflection bypass

January 21, 2020
For those of you not in-the-know, Google introduced a rather annoying change in Android 9 Pie that concerns enthusiast developers looking to push the boundaries of what's possible in Android. I'm talking, of course, about the addition of the hidden API blacklist. With the intent to promote application stability, Google blocked access to most hidden...
Google announces Flutter 1.12 with support for web, macOS, and more

Google announces Flutter 1.12 with support for web, macOS, and more

December 11, 2019
Google has been hard at work creating and expanding Flutter for the past few years. In case you think I'm talking about butterflies, Flutter is a cross-platform programming language. Its goal is to allow you to develop apps for any major platform with a single codebase. All you need to learn is Dart/JavaScript, and you...
OPPO Enco Q1 Wireless Noise-Cancelling Earphones Review — Accurate Marketing

OPPO Enco Q1 Wireless Noise-Cancelling Earphones Review — Accurate Marketing

December 9, 2019
Earphones are great. They let you listen to what you want to without disturbing others. And, more importantly, they let other people listen to what they want to, without disturbing you. Today we're going to take a look at the OPPO Enco Q1 wireless noise-cancelling earphones. While many companies are hopping on the true-wireless bandwagon, OPPO...
Tronsmart Spunky Pro Review — Weird Name, Good Bluetooth Earbuds

Tronsmart Spunky Pro Review — Weird Name, Good Bluetooth Earbuds

November 13, 2019
Thanks to Apple's 2016 decision to remove the headphone jack, omitting the beloved port is now standard practice. That's great for some manufacturers since they can charge extra for dongles and first-party Bluetooth earbuds. Coincidentally, OEMs have introduced their own wireless buds at the same time they release smartphones without a headphone jack (I'm looking...
Developers: It’s super easy to bypass Android’s hidden API restrictions

Developers: It’s super easy to bypass Android’s hidden API restrictions

November 8, 2019
Flashback to over a year ago, and we're all excited about seeing what's to come in the Android P betas. Users are looking forward to new features, and developers are looking forward to some new tools to make their apps better. Unfortunately for some of those developers, the first Android P beta came with a...
Google is deprecating Android’s AsyncTask API in Android 11

Google is deprecating Android’s AsyncTask API in Android 11

November 7, 2019
For years now, Android's AsyncTask has been a staple tool for beginner and expert developers alike. If you've ever Googled a tutorial for any sort of asynchronous logic in Android, chances are that the first few results suggest using AsyncTask. It's not like this is a random choice, either. AsyncTask was originally created to simplify...
OPPO Reno Z Review – Great, Despite the Software

OPPO Reno Z Review – Great, Despite the Software

October 30, 2019
Strap in everyone, it's time for another wall of text—I mean, review. This time around, we're taking a look at the OPPO Reno Z. It's a solidly mid-range device released earlier this year and I've got to say, it's definitely interesting. On paper, it's not really something to write home about, but OPPO has followed...
Navigation Gestures 1.20.16 released with even more bug fixes and features

Navigation Gestures 1.20.16 released with even more bug fixes and features

October 23, 2019
It's been less than a month (barely) and we're back with another Navigation Gestures update. Just like with the release of 1.18.4, the focus here is primarily on stability and performance. That doesn't mean there aren't new features, though. We've spent a while making sure this release is as stable as we can get it...
Google previews Android Studio 4.0 and releases new Jetpack libraries at Android Dev Summit

Google previews Android Studio 4.0 and releases new Jetpack libraries at Android Dev Summit

October 23, 2019
Google is back for more, and this time that doesn't mean yet another Play Store or API restriction. Instead, Google's announced a whole bunch of stuff at the Android Dev Summit to help Android developers. It seems the effects of Project Marble are still around since Google's doing more to improve app performance. We're even...
Navigation Gestures 1.18.4 released to stable with new features and bug fixes

Navigation Gestures 1.18.4 released to stable with new features and bug fixes

September 30, 2019
It's been a while since the last stable update of Navigation Gestures (1.15.10), and even longer since we've posted about an update. We're here to change that. This post marks the release of Navigation Gestures 1.18.4 to stable. You might be wondering: what happened to 1.16 and 1.17? Well, we can assure you we know...