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Dec

Dolphin Browser Beta Bumped To Version 1.2, Now Supports Android 4.2, Faster Page-Loading, Improved Add-On Compatibility, And More

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

If there's one thing that can be said of Dolphin Browser, it's that the dev team behind it stays on top of things. There's a steady stream of updates to the browser all the time, bringing new features, performance improvements, and all that other fun stuff that people usually like when they're favorite apps get.

Today's update is no different, though it is a little more notable. First - and most importantly - v1.2 brings support for Android 4.2. So all you Dolphin-lovers with N7s, 4s, or 10s can now have your favorite browser back. Good for you.

^{hahaha, that looks funny.}

Nov

Getting To Know Android 4.2, Part 2: The Revamped Gallery

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Features, Getting To Know Android, Jelly Bean 4.2, News

It's time for another installment of Getting To Know Android, the series where we show you every polished pixel in Google's latest Android update. Today's target is the Gallery, which, in a rare APK Teardown whiff, is not white. I have no idea what was going on with our crazy 4.2 alpha version, but the Gallery is still black, and the icon is still the same. Sorry about that. There is lots of new stuff to talk about, though.

About

First up is the "App Info" screen. As always, the old version is on the left, and the new version is on the right.

Nov

Yet Another Android 4.2 Bug: Weird In-App Transparency Glitch On Secondary User Accounts

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Jelly Bean 4.2, News

Earlier today, we noticed a bug report for a very strange issue with multiple user accounts on the Nexus 7. Apparently, certain applications are displaying the underlying screen - be it the wallpaper, app tray, or the Play Store (depending on where the app was launched from) - through the foreground app. But here's the kicker: it's only happening on secondary accounts. Yeah, it's confusing and strange.

There's also a Reddit thread that confirms this is happening, and it seems to only be affecting apps that call on some sort of transparency. To make sure it's not just a N7 bug, though, I grabbed the N10 to see if it suffers the same issue.

Nov

Netflix Updated For Android 4.2, New Player UI Comes Along For The Ride

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Applications, News

Netflix has been gently updating and adding features ever since it debuted on Android, and while today's addition isn't earth-shattering, it'll be welcome to anyone with a shiny new Nexus device. The primary addition to the 2.1 update is full support for Android 4.2, but the player UI has also gotten a pretty big facelift. Bigger buttons and more transparent elements make it a lot easier to pinpoint tracking, and the whole thing seems at least superficially faster.

The nicest change to the player interface is the ability to force full screen. That won't mean much for those of you already on a 16:9 device, but for tablets with a little extra space up top and bottom, the cropping makes for a nice lack of borders.

Nov

[New App] 'Lockscreen Policy' Lets You Disable Widgets And Camera Access On Android 4.2's Lockscreen

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

For whatever reason, there are some users who absolutely can't stand Android 4.2's new lockscreen features, like widgets and the left-to-right swipe gesture that opens the camera. There's even a list of "bugs" with lockscreen widgets over at reddit, citing everything from simple widget removal to the glowing rectangle when the device is unlocked as reasons to hate the feature.

If you fall into that camp and wish you could just get rid of the new tweaks, we have good news: there's a new app that lets you do just that. It's called Lockscreen Policy, and, in a nutshell, disabling 4.2's lockscreen features is its sole task.

Nov

Sorry, Santa - Google Cancels December In Android 4.2 [Updated]

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Android OS, Jelly Bean 4.2, News

Last Updated: November 20th, 2012

File this one under How did Google not have a test for this? Got a birthday or anniversary in December? Sorry - Android 4.2 doesn't know what December is. Well, rather the People/Contacts app that comes stock and is part of the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) doesn't. Wait... what?

We couldn't believe it either, but it's true. Google forgot to include December. As in, there are 11 months in a year. January after November. Christmas is ruined. Santa is dead. At least we'll save money on buying presents, right?

We verified this on a Nexus 7 and a Nexus 10 running 4.2.

Nov

Titanium Backup Updated With Android 4.2 Support, Improved Update.zip Features, And More

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

Several days ago, Titanium Backup received a pretty major update that brought the ability to create flashable update.zip files of your backups. Since the devs behind TB apparently never sleep, they just pushed another update to the app that brings several enhancements to the update.zip functionality, as well as support for Android 4.2:

What's in this version:

• Added the ability to batch restore system apps (not just data). See the new "Exclude system APKs" option.
• Added support for Android 4.2 (no multi-user support at the moment).
• [PRO] Added new "Exclude system APKs" option to the "app+data update.zip" creation job (enabled by default for safety).

Nov

Android 4.2 Feature Highlight: So, What Is This Miracast Thing And How Does It Work, Anyway?

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Features, News

Android 4.2 is out now and it brings a bunch of new goodies. Multiple users on a tablet, photospheres, and gesture typing are all pretty neat. What about this Miracast thing, though? If you're part of the majority of Android users out there, you know that it involves screen sharing and something vaguely to do with WiFi. Well, here. Let's clear some of that up for you.

So, Uh... What Is Miracast?

At its most basic level, Miracast is a video streaming specification created by the Wi-Fi Alliance. It allows a user to share whatever is displayed on their device's screen with another compatible product.

Nov

Apex Launcher Updated To Support Android 4.2, Adds A Few Minor Features Just For Kicks

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

Apex launcher, following closely behind Nova Launcher, has updated to include support for the Android 4.2 update that's currently rolling out to various Nexus devices. If you like your launchers like you like your anterior corner of a butterfly's wings, you can download the update directly on your device. You'll also get a few new extras, including the option to close the app drawer after launching an app and better icon label handling. Here's the full changelog:

What's in this version:

* Added option to close drawer after launching apps
* Added option to toggle home screen alpha effect (leave it off for smoother transitions)
* Improved icon label handling (labels will not be cut off or hidden automatically)
* Fixed FC under Android 4.2
* Various bugfixes
* Updated translations

The update is live on the Play Store right now.

Nov

Nova Launcher Updates With Jelly Bean 4.2 Compatibility, Quick Settings, And Other Goodies

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Applications, News

There are only a few launchers that have stood out from the pack since Ice Cream Sandwich came along, and one of them is TeslaCoil's Nova Launcher. Just in time for the brand new Nexus devices and Android 4.2 update, the developers have freshened up Nova with a compatibility update. The latest version has been updated to play nice with 4.2 (Jelly Bean+) as well as add a couple of features for those of you lucky enough to be running the latest version of Android.