Mods

Articles about modifications you can make to your phone such as themes, apps, setting changes, etc. Also includes any apps and games made by developers on our forums.

How to install apps for Android Auto that Google hasn’t approved

Zachary Wander May 7, 2021

Android Auto is a great service. In compatible cars, you can plug your phone in and get instant access to music, radio, navigation, and more. But it's a pretty closed ecosystem. Only apps that Google approves can officially be used. The official reason for this is for safety. Google doesn't want people watching videos while...

This app turns your phone into an Android Auto dashboard

Pranob Mehrotra May 7, 2021

If your car doesn't come with an Android Auto head unit, you can install the Android Auto for phone screens app from the Play Store and turn your phone into an Android Auto dashboard. However, the app offers limited functionality, and its 2.9-star rating leads me to believe that it isn't nearly as good as...

Android 11 Custom ROM List – Unofficially Update Your Android Phone!

Skanda Hazarika May 4, 2021

As you may be well aware by now, the stable version of Android 11 has now been released to the masses. Google's Pixel series of phones and a handful of Xiaomi devices have joined the update train so far, while official beta builds are available for the OnePlus 8 lineup, the Samsung Galaxy S20 series,...

How to customize Android’s built-in battery saver mode

Mishaal Rahman May 2, 2021

Android has had a built-in Battery Saver mode for years now. If your phone is about to run out of battery, then you can activate it to keep the device running for a few extra hours. Battery Saver disables quite a few power-hungry features and tweaks a bunch of settings to extend the battery life....

How to debloat your phone (and more) without connecting to a PC

Mishaal Rahman May 1, 2021

The Android Debug Bridge, or ADB for short, is a nifty development tool to interface with your phone for debugging and testing. Through ADB, developers can access Android's built-in Linux command line shell with greater privileges than user-installed apps. This gives developers the ability to install or uninstall apps, grant or deny permissions, change system...

The Redmi Note 10 gets its first AOSP-based custom ROM

Arol Wright April 24, 2021

Xiaomi recently unveiled the 10th iteration of the Redmi Note series, the Redmi Note 10 lineup, consisting of the Redmi Note 10 and the Redmi Note 10 Pro/Pro Max. Confusing naming aside, the Redmi Note series always brings innovation in the mid-range space, and this year is no different, as we're getting AMOLED displays across...

This mod adds tons of customization options on Google Pixel smartphones

Skanda Hazarika April 24, 2021

Customization is a big deal in the Android ecosystem. On Android devices that aren’t heavily locked down, you can make widespread modifications, including to parts of the OS that the OEM wouldn't have touched themselves. We see people try to port and replicate a lot of what's found on Google Pixel smartphones — stock Android...

Developer makes a proof of concept multi-boot solution for Android devices

Skanda Hazarika April 21, 2021

Multi-booting on Android devices has always been a bit tricky. On regular x86 PCs and Macs, it’s fairly easy to get another OS booting. On smartphones, however, the story is different. Luckily, the brilliant aftermarket developer community, as well as individual modders, frequently came up with different ways to get your Android device to run...

Android 11 with One UI 3.1 arrives unofficially on the Samsung Galaxy M20 and Galaxy M30

Skanda Hazarika April 20, 2021

One UI 3.1 looks to be the best version of Samsung's custom Android skin yet. With a number of new productivity features and several UI/UX enhancements, the Korean OEM's flavor of Android is looking better than ever. If that has you excited, then you’ll be happy to know that you can flash an unofficial port...

Google Pixel’s Now Playing feature has been ported to other Android devices

Kishan Vyas April 19, 2021

Google debuted the Now Playing feature with the Pixel 2 series back in 2018, and it has remained an integral part of the Pixel lineup ever since. The feature employs a combination of onboard hardware, software, and Google’s machine learning magic to identify songs playing in the background. Now Playing was intended to be a...

You can now emulate the Nokia N-Gage (and Symbian) on Android

Corbin Davenport April 15, 2021

The Symbian mobile operating system played a vital role in the rise of PDAs (and later smartphones) in the late 1990s and early 2000s, especially outside North America. The platform had an extensive library of applications and games, and now you can try some of them on your Android phone or tablet. EKA2L1 is a cross-platform...

Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8 can now run Android 11, unofficially

Skanda Hazarika April 14, 2021

Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S and Note lineup are usually offered in two different processor variants around the world. While devices in the US, Canada, China, etc. receive the Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset, most other regions receive devices with an Exynos chip. The bootloader unlocking situation on the Snapdragon-powered models is somewhat complicated, thus the custom ROM...