Latest Articles
Motorola does a very good job with software on the Moto X. However, if you're unhappy with the stock ROM for some reason, you now have a new alternative. The first official build of CyanogenMod has been released for the 2014 model (code name Victara), and is ready for installation.
Google's WebView app debuted in the Play Store a few weeks ago, but that was just a beta. Now the listing has opened up to the general public. It's still Lollipop only, but now those running Android 5.0 and higher will get the latest patches and tweaks to the system WebView automatically.
Android 5.0 introduced recurring downtime as part of the new notification control scheme, and Android 5.1 brings an important enhancement to this system. You can now choose whether you want programmed downtime to trigger priority mode or block all notifications. It's all right there in the downtime settings, which you still have to dig for.
That new default Android icon in 5.1 we pointed out earlier appears to be showing up in more places than expected. It's the basis for an updated Android Beam icon, which you can see below.
Android 5.1 made some major changes to the way recent apps are handled in Android. You can include Chrome tabs in the recent app list, and apps that are called up from another activity get their own card to keep things more consistent. However, Google also decided to never clear the list of recent app cards. It just goes on and on and on... it's kind of annoying. "Recently" from Chainfire fixes that, but you need root.
Android 5.1 seemed like a very minor update when it was announced, but there are actually a lot of cool little changes throughout the OS. For example, you can now (finally!) change the system volume while you have audio playing. Google added a new button to make this happen.
You've probably seen that default icon an uncountable number of times. That little 3D Bugdroid with the cube on its chest—it's what Android assigns when something doesn't have its own icon. It's gone in Android 5.1, replaced with a new icon much more in keeping with the style of Lollipop.
There are already a number of ways to test the capability of your Android device's hardware, but one more isn't going to hurt. Rightware has released Basemark ES 3.1 for Android in both free and paid versions. Do you need a paid graphics benchmark? Probably not, but maybe someone does.
In the wake of Apple's big watch announcement, Google is wasting no time talking about what it has planned for its more mature Wear platform. In the next update to Wear, Google will deploy a feature we've been anticipating for some time, as well as some previously unexpected additions.
After rolling an integrated browser out to some users recently, Twitter now appears to be testing a floating action button (FAB) in the app. This takes the place of the new post bar that hovers at the bottom of the screen in the current official version. It looks much nicer.
It's been about a year since Android Wear was announced, and here we are with a few watches and a ton of apps and faces. I hear there's some other company that announced a smartwatch recently. I think they usually sell fruit or something. Whatever, we're here to talk about all the cool new stuff you can do with your Android Wear watch. So here are the best new apps and watch faces that have come to Wear in the last few weeks.
It's not uncommon for security firms to raise their public profile by publishing analyses of device security and vulnerabilities. However, Bluebox Security really stuck its virtual foot in its mouth this time. After posting what appeared to be a damning exposé of malware shipping on Xiaomi's Mi4 last week, the company has had to post an addendum admitting that it was fooled by a fake and Xiaomi's phones aren't shipping with malware after all. Oops.
Read update
The developer of WhatsApp+ didn't let the forced removal of that app get him down. No, he went right back to work on an enhanced app for another popular messaging service. Telegram+ was born just a few days ago, but now Google has stepped in and removed it from the Play Store for violation of the intellectual property and impersonation rules. We probably should have seen this coming.
Google still doesn't have a Play Music API for third-party apps, so I'm essentially forced to use the official app for streaming my music. If I had the option of using any music app and still getting my cloud tunes, I'd use Shuttle—we've even recommended it a few times. This app is feature-rich and has a slick design, but it's getting even better today with a big update to v1.5. This is the second phase of the developer's material redesign, and it's looking great.
There are plenty of feed readers on Android, but how many of them slap some news on your lock screen? Not many, I'd imagine. Corgi is an app that plugs into Feedly to pull in news and display it on the lock screen. Android lock screen replacements are never ideal, but Corgi seems to do a rather good job.
You don't need to understand the lyrics to like a song, but sometimes it helps. Musixmatch is a slick way to sing along with your tunes or have an impromptu karaoke party, and now it's about to get even better. There's an updated version of it in the Play Store beta channel with some new features and a full material redesign.
Another week down, but as the weekend is upon us, don't you deserve a little something? I mean, isn't it time to treat yo self? Just head below and you can get some apps and games on sale, which is a pretty nice treat.
Blizzard's ridiculously popular card-based arena battle game Hearthstone is getting a new expansion, and you'll be able to pre-order it in just a few weeks. Blackrock Mountain will take players deep underground to the Molten Core where powerful creatures await your arrival. Braving the inferno will grant you 31 new cards that can only be obtained in this $25 expansion.
Zynga acquired NaturalMotionGames about a year ago for over half a billion dollars, and now the maker of titles like CSR Racing and Backbreaker Football has released the trailer for its first post-Zynga project. The game is called Dawn of Titans, and it's a big departure from the games NaturalMotion has been making thus far. In Dawn of Titans you control armies led by giant warriors as they do battle with other players. The developer promises fluid performance and quick gameplay that makes sense on a mobile device.
There's a new app that offers a crazy amount of information on a device's inner workings, but it's only new to Android. AIDA64 has long been available on PCs, and now you can use it on Android to see what's going on inside your phone, tablet, or even your watch. It'll probably tell you way more than you needed to know.