latest
Android Q to warn users running apps targeting Android Lollipop or older
Android Q may warn users that try to run apps that target Android Lollipop or earlier. Android Pie warns on apps targeting Android Jelly Bean or earlier.
It's usually in the best interests of a developer to update their apps to support the latest Android platform features. Each new Android versions offers new APIs and features that earlier versions of Android don't offer. However, each new Android version also adds new restrictions to what apps can do, which some application developers aren't a fan of. For example, many apps avoided bumping their target API level to Android Marshmallow or later so they could avoid having to implement runtime permissions. Google finally started to crack down on this behavior with new restrictions imposed on apps uploaded and updated to the Google Play Store, but they also added a warning in Android Pie to shame apps that still haven't updated past Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. According to a recent commit in the Android Open Source Project, it seems that Android Q will warn users if the app they're running targets Android 5.1 Lollipop or earlier.
We have seen some apps before like Blueput Droid, which can alow you to use your Android device as a touchpad, and this can be quite useful if you are out on the road with a laptop. However, there are many people who can't stand touchpads and for the most part need a mouse. What if I told you that you could use your Android device as a mouse with the help of the sensors and camera? If this does sound interesting, let me introduce you to XDA member MM32 who has created an app to do exactly this. It is currently only available for Windows PC (sorry Linux and Mac users), but the app seems to work quite well. As stated before, it uses the camera, OpenCV, and the sensors to track your movements in space, which get translated into pointer movements. So far, the app can only be used connected to the computer but according to the dev, a BT option is right around the corner. Oh, and one more thing... it can also be used as a touch pad.
By this point in time, if you have been a member of this site for longer than a couple of years, you have witnessed rather complicated processes such as rooting and flashing, turned into easy 1 click procedures. These are normally fool proof and will let you get the most out of your devices while saving you a few hours of reading. However, there is always a risk of bricking your device. This is a time for you to sit down with a good cup of coffee and start reading because unbricking is a fairly complicated procedure that may require special hardware to get it accomplished (JTAG). It looks like this is a thing of the past for Captivate owners because XDA Recognized Developer AdamOutler just released a 1 click unbricking tool. The application is actually part of his Heimdall's project and seems to work very well for various platforms including Linux.
The integration of GPS into our mobile devices was a huge technological leap, completely shattering the boundaries of what a cell phone was capable of. However, this wonderful feature is not great when we don't really know if it is truly working or not. You may be getting an approximate location from your mobile connection and your GPS may have no clue where you are actually located. So, how can you tell if you have a few satellites locked on you or not? Luckily, XDA member dragonro brings us a very handy program to monitor this. This app will give you a notification of how many satellites have your location, which will pretty much tell you if you are indeed using your GPS or not. This is better than other diagnostic tools in the sense that it will not require you to have a full app displaying on your device for you to have the information that you need.
If you are familiar with GreaseMonkey and love writing your own scripts, then you will be really glad to know that XDA member _der_ has come up with a very handy application to run your scripts in your Android device. This plugin was originally available for Google Chrome, but since the dev wanted to have a more portable version of this, he decided to port it to be usable with our favorite little green robot. The dev does point out the fact that due to the slow nature of our devices, when compared to the PC counterparts, that you will need to be a bit patient and wait for Tampermonkey to finish doing its thing before you see anything out of it. Also, keep in mind that this is still in beta, so there may be a few scripts that do not run well or at all in the Android version. If this happens to be the case, please try them out either in the Chrome version or in the Chromium version. Report any feedback about these, if you wouldn't mind.
Complaining about the reading speeds on your external memory card? XDA member Akusari presents SD-Booster, a great application that promises to speed the reading speed of your SD card by up to 40 times. You will need to have your device rooted in order to get it working. The latest version will work on Android 2.1 and up.
JTAG has been, since the early days of phones, the surefire (and in most cases) the only possible way to bring a device back to life after a flash gone wrong (used to be really common back in the WM days). Nowadays, Android devices are actually rather sturdy in the sense that you can flash virtually anything to these devices and would be easy to revive. This happens to be the case for a lot of Samsung Galaxy phones. However, there are still ways to turn your shinny Galaxy into a shinny paperweight. However, JTAG boxes are usually very expensive and you will likely not be able to make one yourself, or so we thought until we saw this thread made by XDA member AdamOutler. Apparently, the dev is rather familiar with electronics and has taken it upon himself to revive his dead Captivate. In this process, he created a very informative thread in which he includes a design for a circuit, which will enable this functionality. The key thing about this is that because of the proximity of the pin connectors, in order to make this, you had to have very good soldering skills. Thanks to a rather ingenious circuit design, this is no longer the case. The dev has also provided the most recent pin outs for you to try this out yourself.
We would like to see more work on dialers for Android as the default one is quite simple. So, XDA member -=(Kad)=- presents Smart CallerID for your Android device. The app allows you to use a high resolution image to give that touch of personal style to your dialer, features notifications after the end of an outgoing call with the contact information and call duration, notify the loss / finding the network, as well as the inclusion of flight mode, and full screen callerID.
If you are looking to try out a real tuned radio app, rather than a streaming app, take a look at XDA forum member mikereidis' Spirit FM Radio app.
A few months ago, XDA member a2ha told us that Tap Tap Revenge for Android was on it´s way, and now it´s here. Tap and shake to the beat of 100's of your favorite artists scoring points for accuracy and timing. You can add in multiple difficulty levels. Features include: Chat with TTR players around the world, global leader boards with up-to-the-minute scores, battle other players on line, customize your avatar, weekly contests with new music, amongst many more.
Do you like Android's stock app manager? If the answer to that question is no, then you should certainly take a quick look at what XDA member leducbao has prepared for you. AntTek App Manager Root is an app manager replacement for rooted devices that is packed with extra options not found in the regular app manager. This will allow you to not only do basic functions such as add/remove apps, but will also allow you to freeze/unfreeze apps, clear cache's, backup and restore data, and much more. In case you are wondering what freezing an app actually is, it is the process of hiding it from Android's memory, so that no resources are used on it. The inverse process of this? Yup, you guessed it... defrost.
The search for the perfect player will never end. Now, XDA member ajeet17181 told us about the successfully ported MPlayer to Android devices running 1.6 and above. This powerful player features support for all subtitle format, proper audio video sync, uses libfaad2 and libmad for aac and mp3 decoding, and stream URL support.
For those of you who are beholden to one carrier and locked to your Samsung Galaxy S device, fear not as XDA forum member helroz has written an app to unlock your device for you!
XDA member iskapil let us know about this new theme for your device if you are willing to see how WP7 will look like. Windows Phone Android is a Android Launcher (or stand alone) application made to resemble Windows Phone's Metro UI. Some members have reported some problems to make it work, so this app is recommended for 480 x 800 resolution screens. Battery Status and Signal Status code updated to include a wider range of devices and hopefully less f.c. on a lot of devices. Suitable for Android 2.1 and up.
XDA member phoezies let us know about the newest version of Android Market 2.2.6, which is ready for download. The new version comes with an updated UI (as described by ElCondor in this article), so you can access all the information about an application on a single page without the need to navigate across different tabs. The app detail page also includes related apps to make it easier to find more stuff of interest to you. Several new categories were also added like Widgets and Live Wallpapers.
If you fancy a change from the default Android clock widget, why not try out Clockr - a text based clock widget developed by XDA forum member zehro.
After all the recent press regarding WinAmp for Android, now comes PowerAMP! An alternative music player, PowerAMP is in beta and was brought to our attention by XDA forum member owziee.
Based on the work of UltraLinx's MNML Icons, XDA member SoundZombie has decided to take the design as a base and create and increase these text based icons for your Android device. The developer is open to hear members' suggestions of what icons should be made.
Never satisfied with your device, no matter how many UIs you try? Want to make your Android look, feel, and behave like your desktop/laptop with Windows 7? XDA member aalopez10 has just posted this UI replacement for Android Eclair and up that will make your device look like Windows 7 (keep in mind I said Windows 7 and not Windows Phone 7). The UI seems to be well made and it has many apps and widgets to make it feel like the real thing (File Explorer, clock, calendar, and RSS widgets, and much more). The only drawback is that the whole UI is in Chinese, and it is a lite UI (meaning that some features are locked until the full app is purchased).