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Google Finally Adds Support for Bluetooth In-Band Ringtones with Android 8.0
After 8 years, Google finally adds support for an in-band ringtone in Android O. Now your ringtones can play on your connected Bluetooth headset or car!
With every new major Android version update comes a slew of new features. Android O, Google's upcoming software release, most notably brings support for notification channels, picture-in-picture mode, autofill managers, and background limitations on apps. But as with any new major version release, there are a bunch of under-the-hood changes that are much less publicized. One such change finally adds a Bluetooth related feature that users have been requesting for many years now - in-band ringing. The feature is a part of the Bluetooth Hands-Free Profile (HFP) and it allows your phone to send its custom ringtone to the connected Bluetooth device. Thus with an in-band ringtone you no longer have to hear whatever default beeping noise your Bluetooth device makes when you receive a phone call.
Despite Removal, You Can Still Customize Nav Bar & Lockscreen in Android O DP3 -- Here's How
Android O Developer Preview 3 removes nav bar and lockscreen shortcut customization; here's how you can still customize them.
The Android O Developer Preview has now reached its third release, meaning the final APIs are ready and Google is readying up for an imminent and proximate release with only minor bug fixes to be expected in the remaining Developer Preview. With previous Android O previews, we saw tons of refinements to the user interface as well as some additional customization features, some of which were likely being tested and might not be available in later releases.
XDA Senior Recognized Developer Chainfire has announced that SuperSU is being updated to version 2.82. The latest app should be available on the Google Play Store already to most users, as the roll out began last week.
Google May Finally Enable Custom Themes Built on Sony's RRO Framework
The Android O Developer Preview has a mysterious display theme setting. XDA has concluded that this theming framework is based on Sony's RRO.
In case you aren't already aware, Google has released the second Android O Developer Preview (Android O DP2) during yesterday's I/O event. We've already done a deep dive into everything new we've found thus far, but there was one thing about DP2 that was bugging me. Everyone who received the beta update or manually flashed the new images were quickly met with a radically different UI in quick settings. Why in the world did Google decide to change the theme? After some more testing and digging, I've come to a conclusion. For whatever reason, Google has decided to make its "Inverted" theme the default theme; perhaps while the company was in the middle of testing a custom theming solution based on Sony's Runtime Resource Overlay (RRO), they weren't able to get the default Pixel theme working in time for the Android O Beta release.
Here's Everything New in Android O Developer Preview 2
A comprehensive look at all of the changes we've found in Android O Developer Preview 2. Includes changes to the Pixel Launcher and many UI changes.
It's that time of year again. Google's yearly I/O developer conference is like Christmas for Android enthusiasts. Every year the company bombards us with news related to everything Google has been working on in recent months. We've been extensively covering all the latest news from this year's I/O, but one thing we haven't gotten around to until after today's keynote event was over was trying out the latest Android O beta release. But it's been a few hours since Android O's Beta Program has been live, and Google has even posted flashable images for anyone on compatible devices to try. We've now taken an in-depth look at Android O Developer Preview 2, and we're ready to share what we've found.
Android O's Autofill Framework will Finally Resolve a Long-Standing Lag Issue with Password Managers
The new Autofill Framework in Android O will resolve a long-standing lag issue associated with the Accessibility Services of password managers.
It's already been a month since Google released the first Android O Developer Preview (time sure flies by fast!), and as with any new version of Android - there's a lot to dig into. We've published plenty of articles about Android O already, but there's one feature that I feel hasn't really received the attention it deserves: the Autofill Framework.
Nav Bar Customization was Hidden in Stock Nougat All Along...and it never needed Root
Android O's nav bar customization was actually hidden all along in Android Nougat. Well, we all knew that, but it turns out it never needed root!
Show of hands here: how many of you are actually running the first Android O Developer Preview? Not only is the Developer Preview only available to a handful of Google devices, but it's really not suitable as a daily driver. Of course, it was never intended to be used by the average user, but rather as a test-bed for developers to ensure their applications will work when Android O officially does release. However, that doesn't mean we can't have some fun for ourselves and take a look at what's inside. One of the most exciting features coming to Android O devices is the nav bar customization located in System UI Tuner. But what if we told you that this awesome nav bar customization isn't only available to users on the Android O Developer Preview? That's right, this feature actually already works on Android 7.X Nougat, and it doesn't need root access either.
Android O is Breaking Apps that Overlay on top of the Status Bar
Android O deprecates TYPE_SYSTEM_OVERLAY in favor of TYPE_APPLICATION_OVERLAY, resulting in apps that overlay on top of the status bar breaking.
The trickle of posts outlining new user-facing features found in Android O is starting to slow down now that users have had weeks to test the software on their device. However, there are many, many changes made under-the-hood that are slowly being uncovered. We posted about one such change just the other day about Nexus and Pixel devices running Android O adopting SDCardFS. But today, we would like to discuss a change that will affect developers of certain apps, particularly those that overlay on top of the status bar. These applications seem to be broken in the Android O Developer Preview, which at first glance you might dismiss as a simple bug, but diving deeper into the reference documentation, this may be an intended change by Google.
Add a Contacts Shortcut and an End Call Button to the Nav Bar during Phone Calls in Android O
A tutorial on how to add a shortcut to launch the contacts app and a shortcut to end call to the navigation bar while in a phone call. Android O only.
If you've been following our tutorials feed, then you'll know by now that we love finding ways to take advantage of Android O's new nav bar customizer. Through the power of the popular automation app known as Tasker, we can contextually change the nav bar to include nav keys that are useful in specific contexts. In this tutorial, we will demonstrate how to add a contacts shortcut and an end call shortcut to the nav bar while you are in the middle of a phone call.
Add a Menu and Forward Button to the Nav Bar in Android O for Enhanced Web Browsing
A tutorial on how to add a menu and forward button to the navigation bar in Android O, only while using Google Chrome, for enhanced web browsing.
Android O's navigation bar customizer can be used for a myriad of cases, but it's especially useful when you are changing the navigation keys contextually. In our tutorials, we are focusing on finding situations where adding new nav bar keys can enhance your app experience, and today we'll show you how to add a menu and a forward button to the nav bar when using Google Chrome. These buttons will greatly enhance your web browsing experience, because it beats having to reach all the way to the top right to tap the menu overflow button.
How to add Left/Right Cursors to the Nav Bar during Text Input on Android O
A tutorial on how to show left/right cursor buttons to the navigation bar on Android O, but only when a text input field is active.
One of the oldest feature additions to custom ROMs that has yet to make its way into an official release of Android is the ability to manually move your text input cursor. Depending on your ROM, you may have the ability to move the text input cursor using the volume buttons or by pressing virtual buttons on the navigation bar. This feature is essential if you frequently go back to make corrections when typing, but without a custom ROM you won't be able to enjoy it.
How to Add Page Scroll Keys to the Navigation Bar while using Chrome in Android O
A tutorial on how to add page scroll keys to the navigation bar while using Google Chrome browser in Android O using Tasker and SecureTask.
We've been having a lot of fun at XDA with the new navigation bar customizer this week. From custom keys to control music playback, toggle picture-in-picture mode while using YouTube, and finally add keys to move through your e-mail conversation list, there's a ton of ways you can take advantage of the nav bar customizer to enhance your favorite apps. Most recently, we also showed you how to add custom icons to your nav bar keys so you can more easily identify what your custom keys actually represent in your Tasker Profiles. And now, we'll show you an example that takes advantage of that to add page scroll keys to the navigation bar while using Google Chrome.
How to Add Custom Icons to the Navigation Bar in Android O
A tutorial on how to add custom icons of your choice to the navigation bar in Android O, so you'll always know what your custom key represents.
If you've been following our coverage of Android O, then you might have seen our tutorials on how to modify the navigation bar to toggle picture-in-picture mode, enable media control keys while playing music, and today how to add forward/previous buttons to quickly browse through your e-mails. The possible uses of a customizable navigation bar are huge, and our first three tutorials only scrape the surface. But while we do have a couple of more useful tutorials to share with our readers, there's one thing we had to cover before we can move on to our next tutorials: how to add custom icons to the navigation bar keys in Android O.
How to Add Forward/Backward Keys to Android O's Nav Bar to Quickly Read Emails
A tutorial on how to add forward and backward keys to your navigation bar in Android O when using the Gmail app to quickly read emails.
If your time spent on your smartphone consists of going through a ton of e-mails, then you may find it annoying to accidentally switch messages when you're trying to see your entire e-mail message. Thanks to the new navigation bar customizer in Android O, we can add new keys to the navigation bar to perform custom actions. In this case, we'll be adding two new keys to the navigation bar that will move forward/backward in your e-mail list whenever we are using the Gmail app.
How to Enable Media Playback Nav Bar Controls in Android O when Playing Music
How to enable media playback nav bar controls in Android O while you are actively playing back music. Uses Tasker, SecureTask, and Notification Listener.
The Android O Developer Preview has only been out for a week, but we're quickly discovering more and more potential uses for all of the new features. One of the features we've been most excited about is the new navigation bar customizer found in System UI Tuner.
Android O's Picture-in-Picture Mode can be Enabled Right Now, Here's How
Android O recently introduced picture-in-picture mode, a feature allowing you to display video content on top of your apps. Here's how to enable it.
Feature image: Picture-in-picture mode on an Android TV
Google Announces Android O, Developer Preview 1 Available for Supported Devices
Google has announced the next version of Android. Meet Android O with this new Developer Preview. Read on to know more about Android O and its changes!
Bored of running Android Nougat on your smartphone? Yearning to see what the future holds for the next iteration of the world's most popular mobile operating system? Google has you covered for today, as the company has just announced what comes after Android Nougat.