22
May
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[Updated] CyanogenMod Adds Support For Revoking App Permissions

Posted by in Development, News
Last Updated: May 25th, 2011

Back in March we reported on a proposed patch to CyanogenMod that would allow users to deny apps access to certain permissions while retaining the connection to others. This lets users install applications they are interested in, while remaining mindful of their privacy.

Update: Indeed, the "faking data" patches did not make it into CM and probably never will - thanks to all who posted the correction, including the patch author. See this commit for more info.

Denying permissions unfortunately has a nasty side effect - they will cause applications that don't handle the situation correctly to force close. If an application does start force closing and you've revoked some permissions, you will see a special dialog to easily reset those permissions back to "stock" and give the app a second chance.

18
May
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[Update: T-Mobile Sensation 4G Too] Bummer - Latest HTC Sensation System Dump Reveals Signed Bootloader, Custom ROM Support Is In Danger

Posted by in Development, HTC, News, Sensation / Sensation 4G (Pyramid)

HTC is continuing to release devices with signed locked bootloaders, as we found out today after taking a look at the latest HTC Sensation system dump. The upcoming HTC Sensation is one of the most powerful and desirable devices coming up, alongside the Galaxy S2, but while the latter's bootloader is unlocked, the one in the Sensation is protected via HTC's private key.

Unless we get really lucky, this means no custom kernels on the device (i.e. no custom ROMs) or recovery (i.e. no Clockwork, RA, or nandroid). Lady Luck was hovering around when we got our hands on the Thunderbolt - Justin Case and Team AndIRC who fully unlocked it can tell you just how lucky they got, but we may not get so lucky with the Sensation.

10
Apr
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CyanogenMod 7.0 Final Is Here With Support For More Than Two Dozen Devices

Posted by in Development, News

CyanogenMod, or simply CM, is hands down the largest and the most widely used Android custom ROM family on the planet, with support for 30 devices, both tablets and phones, from hundreds of developers all over the world. Over the past 4 months, these developers have been sweating day and night upgrading CM6's Froyo codebase to Gingerbread, and today CM7 is finally fully baked.

Most CM 7.0 mirrors are already up (with the rest going up shortly), so if you are anxious to try out the version for your device, head over to the CyanogenMod Stable Downloads page and download away.

29
Mar
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Sony Ericsson Promises Unlocked Bootloaders In Some Flavors Of All Upcoming Xperia Devices (Arc, Play, Neo, Pro)

Posted by in Development, News, Sony Ericsson

Today is starting out pretty well - minutes ago, we finally got the HTC Thunderbolt kernel source, and now Sony Ericsson decided to lift our spirits even further via a blog post announcing their commitment to the Android development community. And a commitment it is - Sony Ericsson may just be the first large manufacturer truly listening to us.

Sure, Motorola unlocked the bootloader of the XOOM, and Samsung did the same to the Nexus S, but Sony Ericsson is promising to release versions of ALL Xperia phones with easily unlockable bootloaders, at least ones slated for 2011. This includes the Xperia Arc, Play, Neo, and Pro, but SE is quick to clarify - by far not all devices will be this open.

29
Mar
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HTC Releases Thunderbolt Kernel Source Code, Let Custom ROM Development Begin!

Posted by in Development, HTC, News, Thunderbolt (Mecha)

After bickering back and forth with the Android community about the terms and timelines of kernel source releases and getting flooded with emails, HTC finally put together the source code for the Thunderbolt kernel and uploaded it to their developer portal.

The file weighs in at 87MB and will enable ROM developers to finally do some proper work on custom ROMs, including improving battery life, over- and under-clocking, and implementing other tweaks (hopefully, it includes LTE drivers so that CyanogenMod devs don't have to reverse engineer the protocol and write their own).

Download the kernel v2.6.32 from HTC or our direct mirror below:

Source: HTC Developer center

20
Mar
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[Update: It Was A Hoax] Motorola Encryption Keys Used In Droid/Milestone, Possibly Droid X, 2, Charm, And Other Sholes Devices Are Cracked

Posted by in CHARM, Development, Droid (Sholes), Droid 2, Droid 2 Global, Droid X (Shadow), Milestone, Motorola, News
Last Updated: March 22nd, 2011

What an absolutely insane week it has been for unlocking encrypted and signed hardware!

Update: How disappointing - nenolod turned out to be a fraud, and the whole thing was a hoax. It seemed too good to be true, and it was.

First, the Thunderbolt, which turned out to be HTC's most closed off device ever, was cracked wide open by team AndIRC within days after release, including our own Justin Case (jcase), Jamezelle, scotty2, and others.

This morning, however, we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel for devices that have been uncracked for many months - namely, Motorola Milestone and possibly Droid X, Droid 2, Charm, and other devices from the Sholes family (this, apparently, does not include the Atrix 4G).

31
Dec
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Unrevoked Updated To v3.3, With Support For The Newest EVO 4Gs And Incredibles With SLCD Screens

Posted by in Development, EVO 4G (Supersonic), Incredible, News

The group behind Unrevoked, a tool that roots and unlocks a variety of supported Android devices, just released a nice New Year's present for EVO 4G and Incredible owners. Version 3.3 of Unrevoked adds support for:

  • Droid Incredible with SLCD screens
  • EVO 4Gs updated to OTA 3.70.651.1
  • the newest EVO 4G models with HBOOT 2.02 and 2.10

Besides compatibility updates, the new Unrevoked now uses another exploit under the hood, which is supposed to be more reliable than the previously used (and now infamous) rageagainstthecage.

This article deals with a couple of advanced topics. If you’re unfamiliar with some of the terms, hit up our primers here:

As a reminder, Unrevoked allows you to accomplish the following:

  1. One-click root without reinstalling/reflashing/wiping your existing stock Android OS.

22
Nov
transitions

Attention Android Devs: You Can Now Add Custom Transitions To Your Very Own Custom ROM

Posted by in Development, News

Ever grow bored of the stock Android transitions?  Well, if you're like me and you have, take a quick look at the brilliant work done by XDA-Developers forum member Magnus Ragnar.  Magnus has found a way for developers to build custom transitions into their ROMs. I should warn you that this is not for the feint of heart, and it goes without saying that your device needs to be rooted. Take a look at the video below to check out some of the sweet custom transitions and visit the source link for the full breakdown along with detailed instructions.

Source: XDA-Developers

13
Nov
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T-Mobile G2 And HTC Desire Z Get Their First CyanogenMod 6.1 Nightlies - Download Away

Posted by in Desire Z (Vision), Development, G2 (Vision), HTC, News

After getting rooted four days ago, the T-Mobile G2 and its European counterpart, the Desire Z, finally joined the ranks of fully unlocked Android phones, which give us the freedom to replace the ROMs on these devices with something better and more custom.

It took the CyanogenMod team a few days, but the very first CM 6.1 ROM is now available for download. It will work on both the Desire Z and the G2 due to the similarities between the 2 phones. Keep in mind, this is the first nightly build and not a final version in any way - it's not even a release candidate; therefore, bugs should be expected.

20
Sep
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CyanogenMod Looks To Continue Its Reign, Expand To Acer Liquid, HTC Wildfire, Samsung Vibrant, and HTC G2

Posted by in Captivate, Development, Devices By Manufacturer, Fascinate, G2 (Vision), Galaxy S, Liquid A1, News, Vibrant, Wildfire (Buzz)

Good news for what's likely to be a whole crapton of users: CyanogenMod, Android's most popular ROM, will be coming to a handful of new devices with CM6.1. Namely:

There will also be support for a few new devices- Acer Liquid, HTC Wildfire and Samsung Vibrant. My eye is also on the new HTC phones that are about to get released like the G2.

cyanogen-mod

It looks like their doors are still open to new devs and currently unsupported devices, as well - to quote Cyanogen once more:

A lot of people ask me about adding support for their phone, but we can only support phones that we actually own.

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