latest
Google Play Services will end updates for older versions of Android
Google is ending updates for Google Play Services on Android 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3, known collectively as Android 'Jelly Bean'.
Google Play Services is a library found on all Google-certified Android devices, which powers the Play Store and dozens of APIs for applications that third-party apps can use. Play Services also serves as a conduit for Google to push new features to older versions of Android, like the Nearby Share functionality that recently arrived on all Android 6.0+ devices. However, a few very old phones and tablets won't receive new Play Services updates moving forward.
Google Chrome for Android is dropping support for Android 4.1-4.3 Jelly Bean
The current minimum API level for Chrome is Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. According to a recent commit, it will soon be bumped up to Android 4.4. KitKat.
Android apps generally have a long shelf life. While most apps these days require Android 5.0+, it's not uncommon to see apps that still support Android 4.1-4.3 Jelly Bean. One such app is Google Chrome, which is an immensely popular app that is used on all sorts of devices. Soon, however, Chrome will no longer support Android Jelly Bean.
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.
Enhance Your Wi-Fi Experience with WiFi Better Battery
This application saves the battery life by turning off the Wi-Fi when its not needed.
Battery life on our Android devices is something that we're always looking for ways to improve. Google has been working to minimize the battery consumption in Android but there is still a lot left to be desired. Every little way of giving a device a couple extra hours of battery life can come in handy.
Effectively Optimize Your Media Scanner Service with Xposed
This Xposed module helps you effectively optimize the Media Scanner service on your device.
Typically, all media files housed on your external storage are scanned upon boot. The service that does that is called Media Scanner, which saves its output in Media Store. Android's developers have tried hard to optimize it, but Media Scanner is still a service that drains battery quite effectively for the first few minutes following a reboot.
Add Emoji Support to Your Jelly Bean Xperia Device
Emoji support was added with KitKat release. Learn how to use it on Sony Xperia Jelly Bean ROMs with a simple smali modification.
Full emoji support was implemented in KitKat. It’s clear that not every device, even with a proper hardware configuration, received an update to this OS. Thus, emoji has been impossible for many to use fully.
Change the Style of Your Notifications with HeadsUp
HeadsUp application changes the way notifications are displayed in an aesthetically appealing and very functional way!
Head Up notifications is one of these upcoming features that Android developers hid deep in the Android KitKat source code. It was discovered by the custom ROM community not too long ago, and nearly simultaneously ported to the majority of popular ROMs. This method of notifications has also been introduced as a standalone application and an Xposed Framework module.
Disable the APK Installation Screen with Xposed
Don't waste additional time when installing an APK app from your SD Card. Make it faster with AutoInstaller Xposed module.
Many applications available here on XDA that aren't available on the Google Play Store. There are usually a few reasons for their absence: Developer accounts cost money, they are too “hacky” to be acceptable on the Play Store, or simply developers don't want to release their work in the biggest app store for Android. You can find plenty such applications in the various forums we have here.
X-Reality Engine Now Available for Other Sony Xperia Devices
Seamlessly add X-Reality to other Sony Devices
Each device manufacturer normally adds their own "sauce" to flagship devices. However, these extra special features might or might not trickle down to lesser devices. Is this fair for people who may not be able to afford the extra premium for that added bit of functionality? Probably not, but that is how the world turns. This is where knowing a place by the name of XDA-Developers comes in handy. Some of our devs are committed to ensuring that any feature that would potentially work on a device is able to work.
Android is an extremely flexible OS, in which almost everything can be adjusted to fit your personal needs. However, a problem arises when an application is downloaded from Play Store and it happens to have an ugly icon. Luckily, you have a few ways to change the icon or even its displayed application name. One of them is to recompile the app and set a new icon and name, but very often it won't work because of errors in smali and XML code. The second way is to use a theme, but that's a luxury reserved for users of ROMs supporting theme engine.
Having your phone download a long list of application updates to oftentimes unused applications is nothing unusual. This consumes lots of time, storage space, and bandwidth. To prevent such a situation, you can either disable synchronization with the Google Play Store, or you can backup your applications and restore it when you want to use it.
In recent Android releases, Google has become more and more unwilling to cater to the use of external SD cards. It was never quite clear why Google decided to abandon SD card support in their Nexus devices, but many believe this to be due to the added simplicity of removing another storage area.
Sharing a tablet or phone isn't anything unusual. Phones very often serve as relaxation tools, or easy-to-use Internet terminals from which you can easily access the web and keep in contact with people you love. At default, phones offer only one user profile, which isn't ideal if you want to avoid potential changes to your device settings or keep your private data private.
Android is extremely popular largely due to the fact that users can easily modify its look, which applications to use, and basically anything else. Changing your look is not only a wallpaper, launcher, or new icons. Rather, some deep changes can be done with custom themes that are not so hard to create.
This past February, XDA opened a forum for smartwatches. These strange, yet amazing devices are watches that run Android. And let's face it; it was only a matter of time before custom ROMs started appearing for them.
Along with the various user-facing features added in Android 4.4 KitKat, Google significantly bolstered the overall security of the platform with a number of key changes. Among other things, one of the key changes related to SELinux, which was previously introduced in Android 4.3. Android 4.4, however, shifted the SELinux status from Permissive to Enforce Mode.
Bada is a somewhat lesser known OS released by Samsung alongside with their Wave series in late 2009. Eventually, this operating system was dropped from active development in 2013 and replaced by Tizen. Relatively quickly, developers realized that they could put another OS onto Wave devices, but porting a different OS is an extremely difficult and time-consuming task, as almost all drivers needs to be rewritten. But this is XDA, and the term impossible is clearly not available in our dictionary.
If you're a former CyanogenMod user whose ORD has resulted in a move to another ROM or if you've simply changed devices to one without officially supported CM builds, you're in for a treat.
The Samsung Galaxy S 4 was just released a few days ago, going on sale across the US through most carriers (root already achieved). Reviews are somewhat mixed, with some claiming this to be the latest best thing in smartphone history, while others are not so impressed. US carrier versions seem to suffer from carrier-itis, which is a medical term for "severely crippled and loaded to the eyeballs with bloatware". If history has taught us anything since the Galaxy family has been around, it is the fact that Verizon Wireless tends to lock the daylights out of every phone in in their line up. It is in fact, one of the only carriers world wide that actually sell bootloader locked Galaxy devices (as well as many other devices). Well, Verizon, it looks like your worst nightmare is coming as AT&T is going to start following your same model as well. According to a review posted by Engadget as well as several people talking in IRC channels, and topped off with a comment by Mr. Cyanogen himself, it seems to be that the "death star" is bringing in Samsung's latest and greatest with a big slap in the face of all developers: The phone has a locked bootloader.
You may or may not recall sometime last year, when a member by the name of XDA Recognized Developer rovo89 introduced a brand new concept to this world, named Xposed Framework. This essentially enables the user to hack any ROM and change virtually anything without coding, cracking the ROM open with a kitchen, or even flashing a zip through recovery. Possibilities with such a tool are virtually endless, and it is nearly risk free. Some people have released a few things here and there, but as with most novel concepts, things take time to take a foothold in people's minds. The good news is that more and more people are beginning to see the wonders of this framework and have begun using it to add functionality that would otherwise require a brand new ROM (as what you want may not be available for your favorite ROM). XDA Forum Member ruqqq is among those people, and he has released something quite interesting based on Xposed.