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SVP is a new video player for Android with built-in MEMC to make videos look smoother
SVP is a new video player for Android featuring MEMC to boost the frame rate of your favorite TV shows or movies, making them look smoother.
Almost every TV show or movie is shot in 24 fps, though chances are if you have a modern HDTV, that's not the frame rate you're watching the content in. That's because most TVs these days ship with a feature called motion smoothing that's enabled by default. Motion smoothing interpolates frames that aren't there in the source material to make videos seem smoother than they actually are. Interpolating frames is tricky, and Hollywood absolutely hates the practice, but there's a reason why motion smoothing ships on so many TVs: people like it. Most mobile devices, on the other hand, don't support motion smoothing, though thanks to a new video player for Android called SVPlayer, you can watch videos in higher frame rates right on your smartphone or tablet.
Phone-to-PC screen mirroring tool 'scrcpy' now supports devices running Android 12
The tool that lets you mirror your phone's screen to your PC, scrcpy, has been updated to support controlling devices running Android 12.
The Android Debug Bridge, or ADB for short, is an immensely useful tool for developers that want to read system logs, change settings, or automate actions on their device. Google intended to only provide a command line interface when they made ADB, but in early March of 2018, a developer built a tool on top of ADB that lets you not only mirror the screen of your Android phone but also remotely control it from your PC. That tool is called scrcpy, and its latest update adds support for devices running Android 12.
Wavelet's audio equalizer now works with even more apps on Android [Giveaway]
Looking for an audio equalizer app that actually works on Android? Want to make your headphones sound better? Check out the Wavelet app!
If you're looking to tweak the sound of your headphones while they're connected to your Android device, then you'll definitely want to check out the Wavelet app. It's one of the few audio equalizer apps on Android that actually works without needing root access. With its plethora of options for both beginners and experts, anyone can make their music sound better (or at least more to their liking). It's been a little over a year since Wavelet was first released, and its biggest update yet is now here. To celebrate the big update, the developer has given us some promo codes to giveaway!
One of the best free file managers for Android turns 10 years old
One of the best and most beloved free file managers for Android, MiXplorer, is turning 10 years old today. Read on to know more!
One of the best things about Android is that there's an app for pretty much anything you want to do on your phone. And in our forums, there's a thriving enthusiast scene where people actively find ways to get the most out of their smartphones, no matter how old, new, low-end, or high-end it is. Throughout Android's history, modding has changed a lot in some regards and mostly hasn't in others. One of the few apps that have managed to stay relevant despite years of changes in Android is MiXplorer, one of the best free file managers available for Android devices, and it's turning 10 years old today.
How to install apps for Android Auto that Google hasn't approved
Not every Android Auto app is available on Google Play. Here's how you can install unapproved apps without needing root access!
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 driving, for instance. But what if you have a legitimate reason for using Android Auto (drive-in graduations, for example)?
How to debloat your phone (and more) without connecting to a PC
LADB is an app that lets you run ADB shell commands from your phone, no root and no PC needed! Use it to debloat your phone and more!
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 settings values, and do much more, all from the command line. Although intended for developers, these commands are also useful to help you debloat your phone, tweak hidden settings, and enable other options.
Play PUBG Mobile and other Android games with a controller using Mantis Gamepad
Mantis Gamepad is a keymapper app that lets you play Android games like PUBG Mobile using any physical controller of your choice.
Mobile gaming has taken a huge leap over the past few years. With improvements in hardware and graphics technologies as well as various software innovations, one can enjoy high-quality games capable of matching (if not better than) some of the gaming consoles in the market. We also have a variety of game streaming services, including NVIDIA GeForce Now, Google Stadia, Xbox Game Streaming, etc., that let you enjoy AAA gaming titles by just streaming them on your smartphone using high-speed internet.
FairEmail is an email app for truly privacy-conscious Android users
FairEmail is an open-sourced email app that aims to be the answer for privacy-conscious users. We've covered it in the past and it has grown since then.
There is certainly no shortage of email apps in the Google Play Store. If you've used an Android phone for any length of time, you've probably tried out several different apps. While there may be many to choose from, the vast majority of these apps are closed source and they don't necessarily put your privacy as a top priority. FairEmail is an open-source email app that aims to be the answer for privacy-conscious users. We've covered it in the past, but it has grown a lot since then.
Yatse is an all-in-one remote for Kodi and Plex servers
Yatse is an all-in-one remote for Kodi and Plex servers, and you can check out some of the app's best features in our hands-on. Head on over!
I consider myself a media junkie of sorts, with a large collection of movies and TV shows in the form of physical media. I also like to keep digital copies of my media just in case, and so I have a growing collection of media in digital form. Watching that across devices can be hard, especially when my main PC doesn't even have a dedicated DVD reader. That's where Plex comes in, which I use to stream movies and TV shows to my phone, laptop, PC, and more. The official Plex app doesn't have a lot going for it though, and that's where Yatse by XDA Senior Member Tolriq comes in. It's an all-in-one remote which started primarily aimed at Kodi server owners, though it has Plex support as well. I used it for a couple of weeks for both purposes and was very happy with what I saw.
Poweramp 3.0 Overview - Android's Most Powerful Music Player is Still Kicking [Giveaway]
Poweramp is one of the most popular and powerful music players on Android, and it's gotten even better in version 3.0. Here's an overview and a giveaway.
Many people these days have switched over to music streaming services like Spotify, Pandora, or YouTube Music. Long gone are the days for many when their phone used to be filled to the brim with MP3 files, as streaming has become so much more convenient for many, myself included. Still, there are times when locally stored music has its own advantages over streamed media. For example, you can store files in FLAC format, a lossless codec which promises the highest sound quality possible. Files are larger, sure, but they sound better on higher quality headsets and speakers. That's without getting into the data usage of streaming media, even if you can save songs locally on your service of choice as well. If you prefer to use locally stored media, then you'll need a music player for that, which is where Poweramp comes in.
Kiwi Browser's latest update brings Google Chrome Extensions to Android
The popular third-party Chromium-based browser called Kiwi Browser has just added a major new feature in its latest update: Google Chrome extension support!
Google's open-source Chromium browser is the basis for many web browsers that aren't developed by Google. Microsoft Edge for Windows, Brave Browser, and Opera are just some of the major web browsers running on the Blink browser engine (Chromium's browser engine.) Although these browsers all run on the same engine, the features they support can be wildly different. Two features that are missing on nearly every Chromium-based browser for Android are bookmark and history syncing with Google and support for Chrome extensions. The former can be solved with a desktop extension, which is how Brave Browser and Samsung Internet offer Chrome sync functionality. The latter, however, is far more complicated because Google's official Chromium builds for Android don't support Google Chrome extensions. That hasn't stopped XDA Senior Member arnaud42, the developer of Kiwi Browser, from adding Chrome extension support in the latest version of his browser.
This Android app lets you long press the volume buttons to skip songs while the screen is off - WITHOUT Root!
Most custom ROMs have an option to long press the volume keys when the screen is off to control music. This Android app does it on any Android 8.0+ device!
If you've ever installed a custom ROM before, then there's a good chance you've seen a feature that lets you remap a long press of the volume button to control media playback. With this option enabled, you can long press the volume up button to skip to the next track or long press the volume down button to return to the previous track. The ability to skip songs with volume button presses is so ubiquitous among custom ROMs that we're surprised to see it hasn't made its way into software from major OEMs.
Reachability Cursor makes it easy to use tall Android phones One Handed [XDA Spotlight]
A new app called Reachability Cursor makes it easy to use your tall Android phone with one hand. If you need one handed use of your phone, look no further!
Every day, many developers post new apps or games on our Apps and Games forum. We scour the XDA forums for interesting new Android apps that we think you might like, and some of our favorites have even received special attention from us. There are so many apps released each day that finding a truly unique and fascinating app can be like picking a needle out of a haystack, but that's exactly what we've done today. A developer on our forums came up with an innovative solution to the problem of using tall Android phones with one hand. Called "Reachability Cursor," the app creates an on-screen cursor that you can drag to perform taps, long presses, and drag gestures.
DevCheck is a hardware and system info app that tells you everything about your device [XDA Spotlight]
DevCheck is an app that helps you view every technical detail about your device's software and hardware. It's available for free so check it out!
The XDA forums are full of developers who make lives easier for those who want to mod their phones. Whether it be an app for controlling superuser access, changing governors on your CPU, overclocking, flashing, or many other functions. DevCheck is yet another application that helps tech-savvy people find technical info about their device. It is made by XDA Recognized Developer flar2. He is the one who brought one of the best custom kernels, ElementalX, to life. The application is free with an option of a paid $2.49 in-app purchase, which offers some neat features and also gives you an ability to support the developer.
Pluvius themes system UI and accent color based on the wallpaper [Giveaway]
Pluvius is a new app that uses OMS on rooted Android devices to dynamically theme the System UI and accent color based on the current wallpaper.
With Android 8.0 Oreo, Google introduced Sony's native theme framework called the Overlay Manager Service (OMS.) Overlays can be built to target the resources of any application, including the SystemUI and Android framework, and override them with their own values. This allows us to theme almost any part of Android to our liking on Android 8.0 Oreo and Android 8.1 Oreo. Unfortunately, Google blocked access to the OMS APIs in Android P, stating that OMS is only intended to be used by OEMs. However, if you have root access such as through Magisk, you can still install custom themes on Android P. A new app called "Pluvius" has just been released, and it uses OMS in a really clever way: Dynamically theming system UI and accent colors based on the current wallpaper. It requires root access to work, but if you pass that basic requirement then you can enjoy personalized themes on any Android 8.0 Oreo, Android 8.1 Oreo, or Android P device like the Google Pixel 2 or Essential Phone.
Saiy is a Fully Customizable Voice Assistant that Works Offline [XDA Spotlight]
Saiy is an open source voice assistant that can work offline. It was originally launched in 2012 as "Utter," but now development is back in action.
For years, the big names in mobile tech have played a massive game of “One-Up." The spec wars have led to some major market champs like the Apple and Samsungs of the world, however, by now even the cheapest of handsets feature specs we would have died for back in the OG Motorola DROID days. Huawei just released the P20 Pro with 3 camera lenses and the OnePlus 6 features a whopping 8GB of RAM in the higher end model. Things are heating up.
Helix Engine is a Power Manager app that Improves Efficiency, Battery Consumption, and Performance [XDA Spotlight]
Helix Engine automatically tweaks CPU frequencies and governors depending on the app, either optimizing efficiency and battery or boosting performance.
One of the very first apps I install on my devices after rooting them is Kernel Adiutor or another kernel tweaking app. With apps like these, you can quickly tweak most aspects of your device's kernel: change the CPU/GPU frequencies and clock speeds to your liking, change CPU/GPU governors to save battery or focus on performance, and much more. And by installing a custom kernel with additional tweaks, governors, improvements, patches, and features, these possibilities are unlocked and expanded even further.
Curb your Android smartphone addiction with "Lock Me Out" [XDA Spotlight]
"Lock Me Out" is an Android app that allows you to curb your smartphone addiction. You can lock yourself out of the device, schedule regular daily lockouts, and more.
Smartphone addiction can be a serious issue. There was a time when mobile phones were used only for calling and texting (and that too with triple-tapping physical keypads or using T9). It meant that users spent far less time on mobile devices than they do today. At that time, there were no huge 6-inch 18:9 displays. There was no Wi-Fi or LTE connectivity, and battery life used to be counted in days and weeks, not hours.
Customize the Google Pixel 2's Active Edge to do any action with Edge Sense Plus [XDA Spotlight]
Customize the Google Pixel 2's Active Edge squeeze feature to do literally anything you want using Edge Sense Plus, now with Tasker integration!
It's no secret that Google and HTC have been working together on the Pixel 2. The two companies recently finalized a massive deal which saw the transfer of core HTC engineers over to Google, after all. With how tightly Google controls the design and development of the Pixel smartphones, it's sometimes difficult to see where Google's partner OEM might have had an influence. That isn't true of the Pixel 2's Active Edge feature, which is clearly influenced by HTC's Edge Sense. A major difference between Google and HTC's implementation is that HTC's is far more customizable. Now, however, the Pixel 2's Active Edge customization possibilities are limitless thanks to Edge Sense Plus.
jOnePlus Tools lets you Customize OxygenOS and Unlock Hidden Features [XDA Spotlight]
jOnePlusTools lets you customize OxygenOS 4+ and unlock hidden features on the OnePlus 3, OnePlus 3T, and OnePlus 5 with or without root!
With the recent release of the open beta of Android Oreo with Oxygen OS, users have had enough time now to play around with it and discover what they like and don't like. If you're looking to discover more hidden features or customize OxygenOS even further, we found an app to do just that. Called JOnePlus Tools, the application lets you customize OxygenOS 4+ and unlock hidden features on the OnePlus 3, OnePlus 3T, and OnePlus 5. The app has a handful of useful features, some of which require root and some of which don't.